PLEASANT HILL (KRON) — A plumber’s truck recently stolen has been found, however, that is not good news in this case because of the condition the vehicle was found in.
The owner of the truck is deeply troubled by the situation. In this MYKRON4Story, he tells Haaziq Madyun why.
“OK, this is the truck,” R.B. Travis plumbing company owner Rick Howell said. “When we went out there yesterday, the cab is completely burned up and…everything’s taken (out of the bins).”
Howell showed photos of what somebody did to one of his trucks that was recently stolen from an employee’s home in Pleasant Hill.
The truck was stolen last Monday, Howell said. Five days later, the California Highway Patrol found it on Franklin Canyon Road in Martinez, fully engulfed in flames.
“It was burned completely, so I was going out there hoping that it would look a little bit better and that we could at least pull our parts of the truck because they have never stolen our parts before, just always our tools,”
But in this case?
“They took everything,” Howell said. “They took the tools, the parts, cleaned out every bin.”
Now, Howell said he decided to tell KRON his story because this isn’t his first pick up that has been stolen from his business.
However, he said it is the first that has been set on fire, and he said he finds that very disturbing.
“It’s just kind of a sick feeling when you see one of your trucks burned that bad just because somebody wanted to steal your tools,” Howell said.
“Unfortunately, when a car is torched like that or when it is burned, there is a lot of evidence that goes up with it,” Concord police Cpl. Christopher Blakely said.
Concord borders Pleasant Hill. Police there said thieves are burning stolen vehicles more often these days.
“The reason why they do it, honestly, is because there is evidence in those vehicles even after the suspects gone,” Blakely said.
“These guys are serious, the ones who took this, they weren’t playing around,” Howell said. “I would love to see these guys prosecuted and be caught, so other people don’t have to go through anything like this.”
Police are hoping someone remembers seeing this truck and gives them a call.