Columbia man steals front loader to plow driveways
What would you do to rid your streets and driveway of all this white stuff? Howard County police say a 40-year-old Columbia man stole a front-loader and used it to clear driveways. Officers tracked down the stolen machinery using Lo-Jack, and it was Lo-Jack officials who alerted me to this quirky tale. It was actually the second time Lo-Jack foiled such a theft in the region, according to Jeremy Warnick, a corporate communications manager with the company. It took police more than four hours to track down and confirm the information.
Here's the e-mail Warnick sent me:
On Tuesday, February 9, detectives with the Howard County Auto Theft unit used their Police Tracking Computers to follow the LoJack signal emitting from a stolen 2004 Caterpillar Skid Steer. Working in cooperation with Anne Arundle County detectives, they were led to a residential neighborhood off of Rt. 198 outside of Laurel, Maryland. A suspect was arrested after admitting to using the stolen Skid Steer to plow driveways. The Caterpillar was returned in tact to its rightful owner.
On Monday, February 8, LoJack helped authorities in Spotsylvania County, Virginia recover a stolen 2003 John Deere Skid Steer (Front End Loader). An arrest warrant has been issued on a male in his 20s, who used the stolen Skid Steer to plow multiple driveways in a Fredericksburg neighborhood. The John Deere was impounded and returned to its original owner.
Front loaders are apparently a hot item. After this story ran, I received an email from Baltimore County contractor Wayne Edwards, who said he also had a piece of equipment stolen.
Edwards, 56, said he's a home builder and times have been tough since the economy went south, so he's been picking up small jobs here and there. One of them was clearing snow for shopping centers in the area using his Caterpillar track skid steer, which he left in the 6200 block of N. Charles St.
"We went out there on Friday morning, before the first big storm to fuel it up, grease it up and be ready for the storm. Lo and behold, it's gone," the Bowleys Quarters resident told me.
Edwards said the chances of recovering the equipment appears "pretty bleak" and although it's insured, after depreciation he thinks he'll be lucky to have enough to pay back what he owes. Baltimore County police are investigating.
Categories: Baltimore County, Howard County
Comments
Good for this guy. Howard County does a TERRIBLE job of clearing roads. They have not come by my street once, and I am off a major HoCo corridor. It is sad.
Posted by: Chris | February 11, 2010 2:36 PM
It IS a quirky crime. I wonder where he puts all those stolen equipments. Is it all done by the same Columbian guy? I hope he gets caught.
Posted by: skidlock | July 13, 2010 6:42 AM
Maybe the company that owned the backhoe, should consider renting equipment.
Posted by: Ironheads Heavy Equipment | July 24, 2010 10:53 AM