$75K equipment stolen from West Linn nonprofit 'useless' to thieves.

WEST LINN, Ore. (KOIN) -- The theft of $75,000 worth of equipment from a Nonprofit Home Inspections storage unit is "useless" to the thieves, CEO Charles Lewis told KOIN 6 News.

On Wednesday night, Lewis -- who was at home at the time -- saw an intruder on his Ring camera and set off a burglar alarm in the unit. The thief knocked over one camera but another one caught him grabbing the loot before running away.

Minutes later, West Linn police arrived at the storage unit with guns drawn and a K9 to help the search. By that time the thief was gone.

But several hours later the unit was broken into a second time by apparently another person to grab even more items.

Nonprofit Home Inspections' mission is to provide inspections on a sliding scale to low-income families, ensuring their home is safe to live in. Lewis said the stolen testing equipment is more valuable than its cost.

"For us, it is lifesaving because we can detect if there's this radioactive gas in a home," Lewis said. "For the criminals, this is useless. It requires a four-digit code to be able to get in there. So they are not going to be able to unlock this."

Insurance will cover a small fraction of what was taken, Lewis said. But he's holding out hope everything will be returned.