Hayward police are sifting through surveillance video after a dozen automobiles disappeared from a used-car lot early Monday.

About a dozen cars were stolen from the family-owned Auto World on Mission Boulevard early Monday morning in Hayward.

The owner of the lot said he hopes  the surveillance video will help catch the thieves.

The video shows three people running up to the office wearing beanies; one suspect kicked in the door and two more ran inside.

The family said the thieves stole files and a lockbox containing keys to all the vehicles on the lot.

Sam Kharie showed KTVU where the thieves first got onto the property.

It appeared they broke the lock on the metal gate that surrounds the perimeter of the lot.

The suspects cut the lock, Kharie said.

The thieves broke in overnight and it appears they returned several times within an hour to drive a dozen cars off the lot.

"I was just shocked, shocked more than anything else," Kharie said.

The break-in was discovered by a family member who came to open the dealership Monday morning.

"It's not right," said Amin Kharie. "We started this business with basically nothing. Everyone's trying to make a living."

Another family member showed KTVU photos of the vehicles that were stolen: Mercedeses, Jaguars and SUVs.

The family estimated the total loss at around $200,000.

The Contra Costa County sheriff's department did recover one car, an Audi sedan, about a mile from the car lot. It had run out of gas.

"I have a family," Sam Kharie said. "This is my life. This is my living. This is for me to put food on the table."

The sheriff's department said investigators will be examining the video, but so far no one's been arrested.

The family said a lot of businesses in the area have surveillance cameras and they're hoping those cameras will also yield more clues to the identities of the thieves.