A thief has stolen $5000 in coins from a Missouri car wash. He returned two nights later to repeat his break-in. It makes you wonder why American self-service car washes still offer coin payment. 

The owner of the Pamper Your Pooch Pet & Car Wash in St. Louis (Missouri) recently had an unpleasant surprise when he  turned up for work in the morning. “I saw it right away”, says Less Buchanan. “The vault had already been removed. You can tell by the techniques he used, this is something that he has done before”, he added.

Even though the  car wash has cameras hanging everywhere, the brazen thief was not bothered by it. He came back two nights later, using the same technique.

One night in jail

Since then, the suspect has been arrested after he broke into two other car washes as well. Something Buchanan just doesn’t understand. “They put the neighborhood at risk, they put the police at risk”, so why don’t they come down harder on repeat offenders?

It also makes you wonder why so many American car washes still accept coins instead of only using cards or app-payment for their services.

The answer is simple: many Americans really like their cash. Unlike Scandinavian or many West European countries, coins are still widely accepted in the USA. Even though it means a much higher risk of theft and damage.