Thieves rob Staten Island boxing gym of workout equipment, cash: NYPD

STATEN ISLAND - Police are searching for a pair of Grinches on Staten Island, when someone stole not only thousands of dollars worth of equipment from the Shaolin Boxing Gym, and also an envelope with cash for a holiday party for children. 

"There was a just a truck they came and there was two people, and they came, just loading everything in the back of the truck," said coach Robert Phillips. 

The gym’s owner, Domonic Breen came in last week to discover that the thieves had made off with their equipment.

Now, they're hoping law enforcement can overcome the challenge of figuring out who did it.

"When they shut the lights off, there were no plates on the car, and you can’t get a good visual on the two guys that were here," Phillips said.

The two thieves were caught on camera taking a weight bench, weights, pull-up bar, mats, and to add insult to injury, they stole $2,000 the gym was going to use for their annual Christmas party for kids. 

"It’s really a shame that anyone would feel the need to take from here," said one member of the gym. "They are nice, they’re very generous, very kind. It’s painful to hear honestly."

Boxing gloves and naked barbell racks now stand in the place of fully stocked equipment.

Phillips and Breen say they're not taking the burglary personally, but that it was a jab to their mission that they weren’t prepared for.

"We weren’t mad that it happened to us. We were mad that it happened to the kids," Phillips said. 

While they hold out hope police can connect the dots and get their equipment back, despite the disappointment, they told FOX 5 NY that they’ve still got work to do. 

"We always got a lot of work to do and we’re never going to quit on these kids so we’re always going to keep working," said Phillips.