Security & Theft Equipment Stolen

   / Equipment Stolen #1  

MessickFarmEqu

Super Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2004
Messages
5,532
Location
Lancaster County, PA
Thieves recently stole four commercial lawn mowers worth almost $50,000 from a farm-equipment business in Mount Joy Township.

Police believe they were taken by a group of thieves who likely scouted out Messick's Farm Equipment on Merts Drive before swiping the tractors.
Investigators say the new, state-of-the-art tractors were taken sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning. A neighbor saw a truck parked in a suspicious area late Saturday and a car in a similar location early last week, according to officials.
Investigators believe the thieves might have been surveying the layout of the business before returning with a box truck for the heist.
"Somebody would have had to do their homework. You wouldn't come in there blindly," Northwest Regional Police Chief Sam Gatchell said Tuesday. "They had to know the lay of the land back there."
The thieves drove the tractors onto the truck and the truck was driven at least 350 yards through a field to get to a road for the getaway, Gatchell said. Police found tracks that showed the thieves' path.
Gatchell said Messick's is a huge operation with multiple large buildings on several acres. The business borders the Northwest Regional police station.
Gatchell said the thieves parked behind a barn by an old farmhouse, which concealed them from view.
The four tractors were among dozens of pieces of equipment kept outside on the property.
"It's my understanding this type of equipment has universal keys," the chief said.
Two of the tractors were 2009 Kubota model numbers ZD331 and ZD326P, and the others were 2009 Ferris models IS3100 and IS5100.
A neighbor might help police crack the case.
On June 1, the neighbor spotted a black Ford Tempo with no hubcaps parked after-hours in a "suspicious area" near the business. The man went outside his home and peered at the men in the car, who apparently noticed they were being spied on. The car backed away in reverse, and they fled.
Gatchell said that incident and the theft might be related.
"It could have been coincidental, but it just seems a little funny," he said.
Anyone with information about the theft or the black Ford Tempo should contact Northwest Regional police at 367-8481 or Lancaster City-County Crime Stoppers at (800) 322-1913.
 
   / Equipment Stolen #2  
Wow that sucks :( They are either really stupid or had a buyer lined up before the theft. I'd think it would be kinda hard to unload expensive mowers like that quietly without having made 'pre-arrangements'.
 
   / Equipment Stolen #3  
I typically think of thieves as being cowards for the most part, but these guys had some large brass ones. They'll probably sell these to someone for pennies on the dollar, then they'll get sold again to some unsuspecting individual. Pretty rotten all the way around:mad:. I sure hope the police can catch these guys.
Send out an alert to all TBNers "Be on the lookout". I'll keep my eyes and ears open here in NE Ohio.

Mark
 
   / Equipment Stolen #4  
Well that sucks! I'm sure the local PD has already entered the details in NCIC, but do you have the S/N's? Just in case some one stumbles across something similar?

We'll keep an eye out for them.
 
   / Equipment Stolen #5  
Do you guys keep the serial numbers on file?....These guys must have been pretty brave and desperate to commit a robbery at a place that borders the police station!... I hope they get caught I hate thieves.....Unfortunately there are plenty of people who will buy something even if they know it's been stolen, which keeps thieves in business and makes them continue ripping people off....sad
 
   / Equipment Stolen #6  
Scum. I hope they get caught and the cops throw away the key.
 
   / Equipment Stolen #7  
Neil as said above make sure the police enter these in NCIC veh file will need serial nbrs as well as model nbrs also if decks have seperate nbr get them entered also. Doubt if you have any OAN (owner appled nbr) to enter but just asking. Most states also have their own system like NCIC but do not need/require all data NCIC does. Presume you know to enter info with manufactuer so if come in for warrenty service somewhere will flag.


Also you might have cops to try what we call an offline search of your motor veh reg file for black ford tempos in your area try to limit years. helps lots on hits

Good luck ewe will need to sell lots of 2.5 G SUDT to make up!
 
   / Equipment Stolen #8  
Thieves are the lowest form of humanity..

Maybe something like this can be chalked up to a tough economy... Maybe not!

A guy out here tried to hold up a convenience store at gunpoint last week.. It was all over the news. The owner pulled out a rifle. The perp dropped to his knees and begged for his life, explaining that he couldn't feed his family. The convenience store owner took pity on him, gave him forty dollars from the back and a loaf of bread...

Tough times... but that's no excuse!

As an aside, We owned a black '84 Ford Tempo for almost twenty years... Used to see it around, but not anymore...
 
   / Equipment Stolen #10  
One problem with equipment theft is that serial numbers are often easy to remove or replace with other numbers and since there are no titles like autos and trucks the equipment is harder to track that way. Some manufacturers have started using VINs hidden in locations that are confidential to law enforcement but almost any spot on a tractor is accessible.

In Texas we have a program through DPS where owners can register their equipment and place stickers in three locations that alert law enforcement that they should look at the equipment if it is away frm the area where is is supposed to be and provides a name and contact number for the equipment owner for police to immediatey contact for verification from the scene of the stop. Makes me feel better anyway but this would not help a dealer.

Hope they are caught soon.
 
 
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