Two men face charges for allegedly stealing more than $1,000 in shrimp and steak from a Racine supermarket

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RACINE, WI (CBS 58) – Two men are facing charges for allegedly stealing more than $1,000 worth of shrimp and meat from La Hausteca Supermarket.

One of the suspected thieves was hired to help fix a broken air conditioner.

The store has been serving the community for more than 10 years. Employees say the hardest thing about all of this is the trust they’ve lost with people they thought they knew.

Employees say the owner of the supermarket hired 37-year-old John Murphy to fix their A.C. unit in the store on Wednesday. Surveillance cameras show Murphy and another man – 42-year-old Joshua Kosteman manipulated their security system instead.

According to the criminal complaint, the security footage shows the two men entering the meat cooler and leaving with more than $1,000 worth of steak and shrimp.

Employees say Murphy returned later that night but instead of getting away with product he wound up arrested.

We spoke with longtime customers who say the business is filled with hard workers who put in lots of time and energy into the local shop.

“”It was a big impact because we trusted the guy,” explains employee Marcos Luis. “Now we don’t trust no one else”.

“It’s a small store but they are good people with clients and customers,” says Naydia Reyes, frequent customer. “They work hard every day, really early and really late. I feel bad for them”.

There’s a warrant out for Kosterman’s arrest.

Murphy is expected in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

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