Theft will not deter Z Fun Factory, owner says

Thieves stole about $6,000 worth of water pumps, motors and construction tools from a storage container at Z Fun Factory late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

“It's sad that someone would do this,” said Bryce Zeller, who owns Z Fun Factory along with his wife, Becky.

However, the theft won't deter the Zellers from finishing the water park, which is slated to open in mid-June.

“We are building a water park,” Bryce said. “No one is going to stop us!”

The storage container from where the equipment was taken is located in the dirt parking lot to the east of Z Fun Factory. The temporary mobile home where Bryce and Becky are currently staying while they oversee construction overlooks the containers.

While the stolen motors can easily be used in other equipment, the pumps were specifically designed for the water park and are of no use elsewhere, said Jennifer Macias, Z Fun Factory sales and event manager.

“The funny thing is these pumps could not be used in pools, they are especially for this water park. So if they tried to take the pumps and put them in a pool it would be absolutely useless.”

According to Macias, the theft occurred some time after the business closed at 10 p.m. Wednesday, but before construction crews arrived early Thursday morning to begin work on the new water park.

And since the water pumps are large, there is a good chance more than one person was involved in the heist, Macias speculated.

“It would need to be two people or one really big guy. They are pretty heavy.”

In addition, those responsible probably had prior knowledge about the location of the pumps.

“Whoever did it knew where they were going and what they were going for,” Macias said.

The Zellers are placing overnight security in the area to deter any more would-be thieves.

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident.

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.