It was a shocking day for Hicham Benhammou at his auto shop in north Columbus.
"They broke into the office and they took some cars. When I come, I find like seven cars were missing," said Benhammou.
Surveillance video from the morning of July 30th shows the moments when five suspects broke into his shop, Cleveland Avenue Autoparts, and stole a safe with 45 sets of keys.
A short time later the thieves came back using those keys to swipe seven cars off his lot.
"Everybody that I know, that they own a garage or they own a dealership or even like in their private home, they have cars stolen. They have keys stolen," said Benhammou.
It's a crime that Columbus Police say is becoming more common with at least 5,000 car thefts in the city since the beginning of the year.
"We’ve recognized at the Columbus Division of Police that property crimes are just as important as crimes against people and you will see a concerted effort moving forward from the division for us to highlight, not only just other types of crimes but property crimes," said Sgt. James Fuqua.
The suspects in the surveillance video appear to be teenagers.
Sgt. Fuqua said the recent spike in crime among juveniles is troubling.
"You start with this type of offense where it’s a property crime and if you get away with it typically younger people will move on to the next progression and they’ll start engaging in crimes against people where people could actually be carjacked at gunpoint or with a weapon or taken out of cars," Sgt. Fuqua said.
Police are asking for the public's help to catch the criminals by sharing these photos.
"I want to see these guys really stopped and if somebody’s behind them I want them to be persecuted and not come out of jail," said Benhammou.
Benhammou said he's been able to recover four of the seven stolen vehicles. If you have any information about the incident or recognize the suspects in the photos call Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-8477.