All-terrain vehicles, known as ATVs or four-wheelers, are popular for recreation in Southeast Texas not only for people who buy them, but also for thieves. This summer has been particularly bad for owners of ATVs and low-boy type trailers. Night-time crooks are hooking the ATVs and trailers up to their vehicles and driving away as the owners sleep in their air-conditioned houses.
Detective Janois Grizzaffi with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said deputies have seen an average of one theft a week involving ATVs or trailers.
Detective Captain Robert Enmon with the Orange Police Department said Newton and other counties in the region have also been having the trailer and ATV thefts. The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office found a cache of ATV parts that were likely taken from stolen items, he said.
Orange has also had several ATV and trailer thefts during the summer. Once, a trailer with three ATVs was stolen from a driveway in the Silver Oaks subdivision in Little Cypress. Less than two weeks ago, ATVs and trailers were stolen in one night from the Cypress Bayou and Greenway Park neighborhoods in Little Cypress.
Pinehurst Police Chief Fred Hanauer said his department is investigating the theft of a low-boy trailer with a Husqvarna riding mower that was parked under a carport at a house on 35th Street.
Hanauer said riding lawn mowers and ATVs do not have license plates. “It’s virtually impossible to prove it’s yours unless you have the VIN number,” he said. “It’s very important to record serial numbers when you buy something and keep the numbers in a safe place,” he said.
He also suggests people use their cell phones to take pictures of the trailer license numbers or VIN number. If someone buys a used trailer or ATV, they also need to record the identifying information.
Enmon said people should keep their ATVs and trailers out of sight from the roadway, if possible. The thieves scout neighborhoods for items to steal. In addition, people should try to lock or chain and lock the items, even though the thieves have cut through locks on some.
“If you can park your vehicle in front of them at night, that’s even better,” he said.
Anyone with information about the ATV and trailer thefts should contact their local law enforcement agency.
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