Maranda Wyatt, left, and Belen Wojciechowski , right.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has reported several times that thieves have been stealing compressors from air conditioners at empty houses throughout Lehigh Acres. They have made several arrests when they find people with compressors in their cars and trucks. Just recently they broke up a series of thefts when they arrested a suspect who had more than two dozen compressors in his vehicle.

Now two women are also targeting thieves in Lehigh who may be planning to steal air conditions, compressors, outside water pumps and pool tanks. They call their business Lock It Up, LLC.

And the women say business is good.

The two men, Maranda Wyatt and Belen Wojciechowski said they had noticed through their business of property management that a number of outside utility equipment was being stolen.

“When this happened, we had to notify the owners who in most cases do not live in Southwest Florida,” said Wyatt.

They began their business in 207 and was the very first company in Southwest Florida to offer custom built and welded solid steel cages by a certified welder.

So she and her business partner, Wojciechowski, who had joined forces with their two property management businesses, decided they were going to do something about it and they came up with an idea to keep would-be thieves away from outdoor air conditioners and water pumps, etc.

“It’s really a simple idea that we came up with, but it is working and not one of our clients has lost any outside compressors and water pumps,” Wojciechowski said.

They noted that the approximate cost for a new outside unit alone is around $1,200 and insurance does not cover vacant homes.

And replacing well equipment is also extremely costly, around $2800, they said. They added that if an air conditioning unit is not replaced immediately, it will cause mold to form in an empty house.

Some say the women have come up with equipment that actually works. The two woman said they have discussed what they are doing with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office so deputies would know that when one of their employees is working at a house, installing a device to keep the air compressor and water pump from being stolen, that they are working for the homeowner. They said the Sheriff’s Office however cannot suggest or advertise their business because it is against policy.

So what are these two women doing? They have designed heavy gauge steel cages that completely enclose the air conditioners and water pumps.

“Thieves have previously been able to get to the air conditioning equipment, to get the copper tubing and the compressors and they can pull out the water pump,” Wyatt said.

A man who works for them installs the cages around the equipment with several heavy steel bolts that run through the cement that these outside appliances set on.

“It would take a semi with chains to pull these things off,” they said. “And that takes times and thieves don’t like to spend time at a site where they are stealing something.

“Neighbors and motorists passing by would see what is happening and the thieves would flee,” they said.

Wojciechowski said their installer has been at sites working on putting up the cages and neighbors have approached them, thinking he is trying to steal the compressor.

“So we’re getting the word out through neighbors, who in some cases live in their homes and want the cages built around their equipment, too.

The two women said the cage has a door that can be opened for service. They also said each unit is measured and custom built because of the different sizes of air conditioners.

Not only are they targeting Lehigh – where they say they have several hundred homes using their cages already, but they are also targeting Cape Coral, too, where the same type of crime is occurring.

“These days where many homes are empty, thieves see an opportunity to steal compressors and pumps and sell them.

“As property management people, we saw the problem with the properties we were taking care of so we decided we needed to look for a solution. So we came up with the idea and we had them built and we hired a man to install them for us,” Wyatt said.

The two women, who are in their mid 30s said they had applied for a patent, but were told it was a cage and they didn’t need a patent. And since they started building these cages, they said there are a couple of other people copycatting their idea and selling cages in the county.

“But we were the first and we can say proudly that our cages are the best. They are build of the heaviest steel and we can see from those we have installed, that they are not being stolen,” Wojciechowski said.

Of the two women, Wyatt handles the paper work and accounting for the business and Wyatt goes out and measures the equipment that needs protecting.

“It’s not easy for thieves to remove 24 heavy duty bolts that are embedded in the cement,” Wyatt said.

“We can’t guarantee that some thug won’t find a way to steal the equipment, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Wyatt said.

Their business seems to be what many homeowners want today because they are installing anywhere between 20 and 25 a week in both Lehigh and Cape Coral.

They didn’t know for sure, but they estimated they have installed several hundred cages already and most of the people who are buying the cages are from the Lehigh area, they said.

They said they are working with Realtors and they are also working with banks that now are owners of foreclosed properties. They said the banks like the idea because such equipment that is being stolen is costly.

In Lehigh, they said they are installing cages all over the community. In the Cape, they said they are mainly installing cages in the northeast and northwest areas of the city.

In their property management business, the two women say they manage about 300 properties, including condos and homes. When they saw what was happening to the homes and condos they were managing, they said they had to come up a solution to keep thieves away.

They said the prices run anywhere from $295 for smaller air conditioning equipment to $475, and for water pumps and pool equipment, the cost is $475. But if a home owner buys cages to protect the two, there is a discount price.

“We just want to do what we can to protect people’s homes,” Wyatt said. They can be contacted by calling 239-244-4914. You can also go to their website for more information at: www.LockItUpcages.com.