Location: Central and western Sussex County
Date of Occurrence: April 25, 2013, through August 17, 2013
Suspects: No suspect information available.
Resume: Sussex County – Troopers are warning residents of Sussex County about a rash of lawnmower thefts over the past few months.
Since late April, Troopers have investigated over thirty thefts of lawnmowers in central and western Sussex County. The stolen lawnmowers are the commercial grade, zero turn type. Most lawnmowers that were stolen were left outside, unsecured. In several instances the owner left the lawnmower on a trailer, and the trailer and the lawnmower were stolen together.
Troopers remind the public to secure all lawn mowing equipment inside of a locked building when it is not in use. Do not assume commercial grade lawn equipment is too heavy and cumbersome to steal. Thieves have been stealing these large pieces of equipment and trailers holding lawnmowers.
If anyone has any information in reference to these thefts, they are asked to contact Troop 4 at 302-856-5850, extension 206 or 209, or by utilizing the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Application available to download at:http://www.delaware.gov/apps/. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
5 comments:
Been going on A LOT LONGER than that, ours was stolen last September. It was driven out of our shed onto a trailer in the middle of the day.
8:32 PM
Was it recovered?
2:54am - heck no! we have serial #s for the mower and the engine, and it's had some unique work done to it that we'd recognize it in a minute from pictures. Have scoured Craigslist, Backpage, eBay and The Guide with no luck.
So either I feel these mowers are being broken down and parts used in repairs (or sold slowly on eBay) or the parts exchanged in such a way to make the mowers less recognizable.
That or there is just enough people willing to pay cash for a mower and not ask any questions where it came from. (which is a shame)
We're "lucky" that we only lost a zero-turn that was almost 8 years old, though it was in good shape worth maybe about $1200-1800. I know people who have had $6000 mowers and trailers stolen. I just don't know how you manage to resell a trailer, I mean how do you get it re-tagged?
We make sure we not only put mower in a locked garage now, but we also CHAIN the mower up. Sure padlocks can be cut, but at least it'll slow them down and make them work a little harder. Just a pain in the neck to do this every time we cut grass.
Sorry about your loss. People will take anything that isn't nailed down. Steal lightening and grab at thunder.
I happened to be out on the stoop one night, maybe 1:30 in the morning and watched a "recovery" tow truck "shopping the neighborhood" looking between houses and into yards. I followed him and called the cops on him. This was 3 weeks after my son's 4 wheeler mysteriously disappeared from the yard.
I think these guys spend a lot of expenses not finding their repo's, and hustle a few "extracurriculars" to keep the budget on track.
I've been offered repo work, and know what it pays. 3 nights of not finding your mark, and you are broke.
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