CLEVES, Ohio — On the road and looking for a place to grab food and do some laundry? You'll find the perfect spot in Cleves.
Owned by the Lanter family, Maka Mia Pizza has sat on S. Miami Avenue for nearly a decade.
The shop's manager, Katie Lanter, said it's usually pretty quiet. Lately, that hasn't been the case.
"They went through and took a saw and sawed right down here, you can kind of tell the markings," Lanter said.
She told us someone recently stole 15 propane tanks from outside their store, setting them back thousands of dollars.
"Most people are like 'It's just propane, it's not a big deal, you guys can make up the losses,' but that's a lot of money for a small business that we have to pay out of pocket to get it," Lanter said.
Lanter said a thief stole the propane tanks two weeks ago. They usually have surveillance cameras surveying the parking lot, but at the time, the cameras weren't working because of the recent snowstorm. They are now working again.
Because of the initial lack of video, Lanter said things looked bleak. That's when the community stepped in to help. After the shop posted about the thefts on social media, people jumped into action.
"We had people coming in, giving us tips, whether it worked out or not we were able to narrow off people who weren't suspects," Lanter said.
Lanter said video from neighboring businesses showed someone carrying the propane tanks.
You can watch the surveillance video of the alleged thief below:
That video and their tips were shared with detectives at the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office (HCSO).
The HCSO confirmed with WCPO that two men have since been arrested in connection to the stolen propane tanks.
Detectives say 40-year-old Kurt Dove bought 10 tanks totaling $100 from 30-year-old Marvin Turner.
Dove is charged with receiving stolen property. Turner is charged with breaking and entering.
"Without the community help, I don't think we would've made it as far as we did," Lanter said.
It wasn't just help with finding who did it. Lanter said people showed their support by buying food.
"The next two days after the theft had occurred, we were so busy," Lanter said. "I'm usually down here by myself I was like, 'I need help, I can't keep up with this.'"
She said it makes her proud to live in a community like Cleves.
"We are extremely, extremely grateful for all of Cleves, our customers, we're just very grateful," said Lanter.
