LV a hot spot for theft of construction equipment

Stephen Curran

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

Joe Wyson has repeatedly learned the hard way that some of the most lucrative stolen vehicles do not always promise would-be thieves a speedy getaway.

"Somebody stole a tractor from right in front of my house," the owner of Las Vegas-based J&J Construction said of an incident that occurred earlier this year.

With two backhoes stolen in 2002 and the most recent theft happening earlier this year, Wyson said the cameras he has installed at his equipment yard do little to deter thieves.

At prices that often reach six figures, backhoes, earthmovers and other big-ticket construction equipment are big hits on the black market.

Stolen construction equipment has ballooned into a billion-dollar industry nationwide, according to LoJack, the Massachusetts-based security firm that tracks stolen vehicles.

The company, using statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, compiles a yearly report detailing the amount of construction equipment stolen each year. And according to its most recent study, only $9 million worth -- 9 percent -- of the equipment was recovered.

In Nevada, the statistics were even lower. Only 6 percent of the heavy construction equipment stolen in the state in 2003 was recovered, according to the company's report.

The 2003 numbers made the Las Vegas-area the fourth most active theft "hot spot" in the nation, according to a National Insurance Crime Bureau report released earlier this month.

Among the top 10, only two -- Detroit and Miami -- were not located in Western states.

It's enough to keep officers in Metro Police's vehicle theft section busy, as they respond to about one such report a week, Lt. Larry Spinosa, who oversees the department's property crimes section, said.

And numbers this year appear to be keeping pace with those reported in 2003, as Metro Police have logged 66 construction vehicles reported stolen through Nov. 15. At that rate, the department can expect to see at least 75 construction vehicles stolen by the end of 2004.

Last year the department took 73 reports of stolen heavy construction equipment -- backhoes, forklifts, tractors and the like, up 43 percent from 2002.

The most popular construction equipment, according to LoJack's nationwide survey, include backhoes (which can go for $100,000 each), heavy duty but small and maneuverable equipment like skid steer loaders, generators and welders.

Leaders of Metro's vehicle detail, part of the 58-person property crime section, have had to dedicate two officers to investigating construction equipment theft, Spinosa said.

"It's a big problem," Spinosa said. "There's a lot of crews out there. We do what we can do."

The high construction vehicle theft rates in Nevada and Southern California are only logical, he said, as warm weather means a longer construction season in fast-growing Western cities.

Like other departments throughout the Southwest, Metro closely monitors sales of used heavy construction equipment and has in past years set up sting operations to catch thieves as they try to unload the stolen merchandise, Spinosa said.

But most often, Spinosa said, finding the stolen equipment comes down to luck, as Wyson knows all too well.

Wyson said he "got the check (from his insurance company for the previously stolen tractor) and that next day I was driving around and happened to go a different way and there was my tractor."

According to the LoJack study, 72 percent of recovered construction equipment in 2003 was found within a few miles of where it was stolen.

Of the recovered equipment nationwide, one-third had been stolen by organized theft rings, according to the company.

Wyson has not closely tracked the amount of equipment stolen over the years, but said recent years have been "absolutely awful" as police nationwide have reported automobile theft rings crossing over into construction equipment theft.

But Aaron Murray, general manager of Durango Construction, said theft of big-ticket equipment is only one of his headaches.

Durango Construction relies largely on subcontractors, who often bring their own large equipment, he said. Then, it's the smaller tools that routinely turn up missing.

"It's the little things that add up," Murray said. "We haven't had any big things stolen, maybe a jackhammer."

Relatively speaking, however, a jackhammer can be among the most expensive piece of equipment to have to replace, Wyson said. Costing about $1,100, they can be almost a total loss under many insurance policies that carry a $1,000 deductable, he said.

"Then you're just out of luck," he said.

James Cadighan, director of operations for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, said Nevada and other Southwest states are familiar targets for thieves for "obvious reasons." The equipment is exchanged for drugs or other stolen items, and is sometimes transported to Mexico or South America.

But, with insurance deductables that leave him writing a check each time a piece of equipment is stolen, Wyson had a different idea.

"If a guy just said, 'I need $200 for a bunch of coke,' it would be easier," he said.

Spinosa said the rise in construction theft has prompted the department to educate its officers on how to identify stolen equipment, which is not catalogued under the familiar VIN -- vehicle identification number -- system used to track other motor vehicles.

That's no comfort to Wyson, who says Metro does little to investigate claims of stolen equipment. When his equipment is recovered, it's either Wyson or someone from his company who finds it, he said.

"The police really are ignorant when it comes to that stuff," Wyson said. "They're just clueless."

Police departments nationwide, scrambling to keep pace with the rising numbers, are hearing complaints like Wyson's on an increasingly frequent basis, Cadighan said.

Even in suspicious circumstances, he said, thieves can get away because officers did not know where to check for the equipment's identification number that would tell them if the piece of equipment was reported stolen.

"Street officers are very unfamiliar with how to identify where the identification plates are located, so they don't stop it," Cadighan said. "One of the thrusts of education is to get the street officer more aware of construction equipment and where the identification plates are located. They just need to look at the vehicles."

But tracking down the equipment -- which often has only a small company logo to differentiate it from the other similar pieces -- is difficult even for those whose business it is to know the equipment inside and out.

"We know our tractors and we know our markings," Wyson said. "But it's hard when there are thousands of (pieces of) equipment that look the same. You just insure it and that's it. We're all so busy we don't worry about it until it happens."