Stash Of Stolen Heavy-Duty Vehicles Discovered In Placer County
/ CBS Sacramento
IOWA HILL (CBS13) - Authorities say they have recovered about $800,000 in stolen vehicles and stumbled upon a butane honey oil lab in the process.
According to the Placer County Sheriff's Office, a big rig towing a bulldozer was stolen in Sacramento on Saturday. The truck and cargo were worth about $600,000.
Detectives later found the truck at a Foresthill property, but not the bulldozer.
Working off of a tip they got on Monday, detectives found two stolen trailers at a rural property off of Iowa Hill Road. Assault weapons and evidence of a drug lab were also found in a house nearby, detectives say.
Placer County Sheriff's detectives recovered around $800,000 in stolen vehicles from a rural property in Iowa Hill Tuesday, and discovered a dangerous butane honey oil lab. Detectives also located 30 pounds of processed marijuana, more than 20 guns, including three assault weapons - one with a suppressor – and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Five people were taken into custody, including a convicted felon.
The case began Saturday, when a big rig truck towing a bulldozer on a flatbed trailer, valued at $600,000, was stolen in Sacramento. Sunday night, a Placer County sheriff's detective, who works on the Regional Auto Theft Task Force, or RATTF, went to a Foresthill property, along with CHP officers on a search. They found the truck and flatbed, but not the dozer.
After receiving a tip on Monday, the Placer County RATTF detective and a Foresthill resident deputy went to a property on rural Iowa Hill Road in Iowa Hill, where they found two stolen trailers. Further investigation led them to a home a few miles from the property, where they contacted five people in the residence. There, they found assault weapons and evidence of a drug lab, so the scene was frozen and secured until a search warrant could be served Tuesday. All five people there were arrested and booked at the Placer County Jail.
Tuesday, detectives from the Placer County Sheriff's Special Operations, property crime unit, and members of RATFF, received the warrant and searched the property. The stolen bulldozer from Sacramento was found, as well as a stolen Can-Am side-by-side utility vehicle, another bulldozer, several stolen trailers, two stolen Bobcat tractors, several stolen generators, a large welder, plus the firearms and drugs. In total, 12 stolen vehicles were recovered and the drug lab was dismantled.
Three of the five arrested suspects face charges of vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, and conspiracy, plus charges related to the drug lab. They are Floyd Rutherford, 42, a convicted felon who lives at the property, Kevin Alan Silva, 54, and Daryl Graham Kanzler, 36. At this point, the other two may not be charged for their involvement.
Tuesday, after getting a search warrant, detectives raided the property and uncovered a stash of stolen vehicles: the bulldozer stolen from Sacramento, a Can-Am side-by-side utility vehicle, another bulldozer, stolen trailers, stolen Bobcat tractors and stolen generators.
Five people were arrested at the home, but detectives say two may not be charged for their involvement. Floyd Rutherford, 42, Kevin Alan Silva, 54, and Daryl Graham Kanzler, 36, are facing charges of vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and other charges related to the drug lab.
