Thieves steal Hayward gardener’s tools [Video]

HAYWARD, Calif. – Every Monday for the past eight years, Noe Choto said he comes to his unit at a Hayward self-storage unit to pick up his gardening tools – his means for earning a living.

But this past Monday, he found that his padlock had been torched. The door ajar.

“Three hedge trimmers, three weed whackers, five leaf blowers,” Choto ticked off on Wednesday, showing what had been stolen. “It’s very sad. I’m stressed because I have no money for everything.”

The 66-year-old works as a gardener on the weekends to make ends meet.

He said a work-related knee injury forced to take medical leave from a full-time  job doing maintenance work at an apartment complex.

Choto and his daughter, Amparo, said they suspect his unit was targeted – someone may have watched and followed him because no other unit was burglarized.

Choto reported the theft to storage company workers but was …