Excavators Stolen From Tacoma Companies.
Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Sound Sound police are seeking help in finding an excavator stolen August 5th, 2019, from local Tacoma Construction businesses.
An employee, who works for one of the construction companies said “If they had a John Deere key, they could just take it, fire it up, like they did, and scrape the basked back and take off, and that’s what they did, dragged it all the way”.
The dump truck was a 2011 John Deere 50D excavator. Based on machinerytrader.com these tractors sell for around $40,000 USD with near standard base models and can go much higher depending on extra features included.
Detectives Are Hoping Local Tips Help
“There are people that are out literally making their living by stealing property and high-end gear all night long,” said Detective Ed Troyer.
This is actually the second excavator stolen in the past few months. The last one stolen was a Kubota mini excavator back in June. The Kubota models tend to sale for around $40,000 USD as well
The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force is not aware of any connection between these thefts, but it is very odd for major thefts like this to happen so close together.
“Usually what happens is they’re either sold on Craigslist for a really reduced rate to offload them quickly, or they’re already preordered by someone else who’s going in and stealing these vehicles on their behalf,” said Lt. Jason Ashley.
If you have any information on either of these 2 thefts please call the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force at 253-329-2442. Image thanks to Construction Equipment Guide
Protect Yourself
