‘That’s My Livelihood;’ Moore Mechanic Loses $45,000 In Tools After OKC Storage Unit Theft

Someone stole a Moore man's livelihood at a Southwest Oklahoma City storage company. He said someone burglarized his storage unit -- costing him thousands of dollars in tools and those tools held decades of memories. 

Tools help repair what is broken as they assist the person behind them. “That’s kind of my record of how I’ve grown,” said Max Faus, a metro mechanic. Faus didn’t realize how long it’s been since he started repairing vehicles. “I had to do the math,” said Faus, with a smile. “Started out in 1982.”  

Faus has fixed every vehicle a person can imagine. “[You] meet some interesting people with interesting problems,” Faus said. Problems Faus can fix with his hands and those tools. “I don’t wanna brag too much,” Faus said. “It’s always a kick when you turn that key, and the thing works.”  

Faus kept the tools he used at Storage King USA in Southwest Oklahoma City. “Things can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye,” Faus said. 

Faus found out on Oct. 3 that his tools were gone. “No way, that’s impossible,” said Faus, describing the moment he noticed the tools were missing. Faus’s collection included four decades' worth of tools and at least $45,000 in value.“There’s a lot more of it,” Faus said. 

To Faus the tools are priceless. “That is a lifetime worth of work there,” Faus said. “That is how I put bread and butter on the table.”  

It is still a mystery as to who is responsible for taking Faus’s tools. He said whoever took them had to know what they were doing and have the right vehicle. “They had to know what they were after, and they had to be prepared for it,” Faus said. He feels broken himself. “My stomach just falls,” Faus said. “Sometimes I’m just so angry I could just bite nails.”  

“Police department, they’re trying,” Faus said. “There’s only so much they can do.” These tools are a timeline of Faus’s life and a symbol of what he’s done and who he is.   

“It’s almost like somebody else’s photo album. That’s a whole history of things I’ve done,” Faus said. “That’s my livelihood. I’ve got people that count on me.”