Stolen equipment used on farm

What's a guy do after stealing a tractor and planter worth nearly a half-million dollars?

He farms with them.

That's the motive Keith County Sheriff Kevin E. Mueller ascribes to a Colby, Kan., man arrested Friday by Kansas authorities after they found a number of farm implements on his property that were connected to thefts in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

“You can make a little bit of money if you don't have to purchase your own farm equipment,” Mueller said.

Matthew T. Jones, 30, of rural Colby, Kan., is being held in jail by Kansas authorities, Mueller said. Keith County has issued an arrest warrant for Jones on suspicion of felony theft by unlawful taking for allegedly stealing a John Deere 8530 tractor, worth an estimated $275,000, and a prototype John Deere 1720 planter, worth an estimated $200,000, from a field near Paxton, Neb., in April 2008.

Colby is about 175 miles south of Paxton.

Farmer Roric Paulman of Sutherland, Neb., said he had been in the midst of corn-planting when the tractor and planter were stolen. After quitting for the night, he had parked and locked the equipment in the field. Paulman owned the tractor, but the prototype planter — one of only three made in the U.S. — was owned by John Deere Corp.

“Of course, the guy that owns it is the first suspect, so they interviewed me,” Paulman said. “It was a big deal, it was kind of unprecedented in this area.”

A tip led authorities to Jones' property late last week, Mueller said.

According to a report by Agent Delbert Hawel of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations, the tractor was one of five allegedly stolen tractors found on Jones' property, along with two planters, grain drills, crawler tractors, grain hoppers and a flat-bed trailer.

A planter that matches the description of the one taken from the Paxton field also was found, but its serial number was removed and the planter had not yet been positively identified, Mueller said.

Muddy tracks headed south from the field were observed after the Nebraska theft, and witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored, four-door Ford pickup that may have been driven to Kansas.

Paulman figured that whoever stole the tractor could have driven it from Sutherland to Colby, Kan., in six or seven hours.

“If he averaged 22 miles per hour and left sometime around 11 or midnight, he would've had it in Colby and put it in the shed by morning,” Paulman said.

“And during planting season, nobody's going to take notice of that — some of us work around the clock.”

Paulman had just started planting when the tractor was stolen. The theft left him with 4,000 acres left to plant, and nothing to do it with.

Thanks to an Ogallala dealer and John Deere, though, Paulman got a nearly identical 8530 within a few days. “Not quite as nice, but close enough,” he said.

Mueller said a tip led authorities to Jones' property.

A brown four-door Ford F350 pickup truck with a diesel tank on the back, matching the vehicle described by Nebraska witnesses, also was found on Jones' place, Mueller said.

Mueller said implements are sporadically stolen from fields and farms. People may not be suspicious about a tractor and planter being driven down the road, he said, because “it's not unusual in western Nebraska.”

Steve Nelson, business center director for Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance in Nebraska, said most theft claims to his company involve small tools and implements. It's unusual for large, expensive pieces of equipment to be taken, he said.

For one thing, it's difficult to fence stolen tractors and planters, he said.

“That stuff's really hard to move, and it's hard to move secretly,” he said. “If you steal it, what are you going to do with it?”

For another thing, farmers can count on their nosy neighbors.

“You ever been to one of those coffee shops?” he said. “They know who bought what equipment, who they bought it from and what they paid for it. You can't hide stuff out there.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com

« Metro/Region

Share