Malone Safe & Lock keys

If you have left the keys in your car while it is running, you aren’t alone, says Darrel Jenkins owner of Malone Safe & Lock.

"We unlock a lot of running cars in the summer when people just need to run in somewhere for a minute to take care of something and want to try to keep their car cool. Summer is a peak time for this kind of job," said Jenkins.

Jenkins has been proprietor of Malone Safe & Lock since 1987, operating for many years at 627 Pine St., in an unassuming office with an ancient white and red sign its only décor.

Jenkins employs two others to help install, service – and unlock — safes and locks, generally a 100-mile radius of Abilene.

The business was established in 1945 by Ike Malone. After his death in 1954, one of his employees, David Alvord bought the business from Malone’s widow, keeping the already established name. He ran Malone Safe & Lock until 1987.

That year, Jenkins, who had been working in similar businesses in Lubbock, after retiring from the military in 1973, bought the business from Alvord.

"The company has been here so long its reputation is known far and wide," said Jenkins. "Our business is about 99-percent commercial. We have regular customers in Brownwood,

Stephenville, Cisco, Haskell, Munday and Knox City to name a few. We change locks, install locks and repair them. We sell and repair safes, but that’s not necessarily the biggest part of our business."

Through the years, Jenkins and his staff have come across the sometimes humorous and sometimes solemn tasks of unlocking or changing locks in a variety of situations.

"I rescued a cat about 10 or 12 years ago that had been locked in a gun safe. The safe’s owner had left town, taking the combination with him. His wife had put some things in the safe, closed the door, locking it, only to hear the cat meowing from the inside," said Jenkins, who confirmed he never had to rescue a human who had been locked in a safe.

Jenkins and his staff have unlocked countless cars, sometimes to retrieve infants left in dangerously hot vehicles, and sometimes children and adults who are mentally impaired. They cannot understand how to unlock the car door from the inside.

"Business stays pretty constant throughout the year. Of course during major events like the West Texas Fair & Rodeo, it will slow down, otherwise it’s not a seasonal business with peaks and slow times," said Jenkins.

When Jenkins has a lock change order at a home or business, though the alarm is supposed to have been turned off for the job, he sometimes trips the alarm and meets responding law enforcement officers. He has no problems since he has the proper documentation to be there. Because of this happening, he and his staff are well known by the police departments.

"When I was working Lubbock, I helped change locks on a house that the Shah of Iran owned there," said Jenkins. "It had been confiscated with all his other U. S. holdings, so there were FBI and top security measures everywhere. You just never know what you’ll run into."

Jenkins tries not to be in the middle of domestic disputes when he is called in to change home locks.

It happens a lot, and could become violent, Jenkins said. So he and his employees will hang back until the police, who are usually already there, take over the situation. Then the Malone crew can go to work.

Jenkins has no plans for expansion. He simply wants to carry on Malone Safe & Lock’s 63-year-old legacy offering quality lock and safe installation, repair and service.