How a stolen big-rig cab, minus its trailer, tipped task force to driver’s plans

An operation initiated Tuesday by StanCATT took a bite out of cargo theft, a crime in which California led the nation last year.

Officers and deputies with the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force, assisted by other agencies, arrested three men Tuesday on charges related to the theft of a big-rig tractor.

StanCATT was in the area of West Main Street in Turlock when officers saw a 2012 Kenworth big rig that had been reported stolen to Oakdale police. Surveillance of the rig was maintained as the driver began to take it through the county.

When reported stolen, the Kenworth was attached to a flatbed trailer loaded with crushed cars, said Mayolo Banuelos, a California Highway Patrol sergeant attached to the multi-agency task force. The trailer’s absence from the truck cab Tuesday suggested the vehicle was going to be used to steal other trailers, he said. “We know that they use three-axles with the potential to commit more cargo theft.”

While watching the truck, StanCATT identified the driver as James Sass, 36, of Turlock, who was known to be wanted on a felony no-bail warrant for a prior auto-theft case.

As StanCATT followed the rig, a GMC pickup was observed also following the stolen vehicle. The Kenworth and GMC made their way through Waterford and Knights Ferry before entering Tuolumne County and arriving in Jamestown.

Rather than pull over Sass immediately upon identifying the Kenworth as stolen, “we wanted to see if we could catch them in the act of actually committing cargo theft,” Banuelos said. “We know our crooks and have a pretty good idea of their MO.”

StanCATT requested aid from the Tuolumne and Stanislaus county sheriff’s departments, the Sonora and Modesto offices of the California Highway Patrol and the CHP Central Division Air Operations Air 43. All continued to conduct surveillance.

Officers in unmarked vehicles followed the rig and the pickup – a U-Haul from which all the decals were stripped, Banuelos said – to an industrial area where a lot of cargo theft has occurred. The vehicles also cruised the backs of stores at shopping centers, where trailers often sit by loading docks, the sergeant said. At one point, the license plate on the rig was swapped with one taken from another.

When the rig and the pickup started to leave Jamestown toward Sonora, authorities decided to make an enforcement stop, Banuelos said.

Sass and the occupants of the GMC – Mark Smith, 48, and Derrick Delhart, 51, both of Hughson – were arrested. All three were booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of vehicle theft and conspiracy, as well as on warrants.

The three men surrendered without incident, Banuelos said. “I think they were overwhelmed” when all the law enforcement tracking them became apparent, he said. “Once they reached State Route 108 and saw everybody waiting there for them, they made the right decision.”

The Kenworth was returned to the owner at the scene.

Cargo theft is a major problem in California, Banuelos said, and the CHP is in charge of the state’s Cargo Theft Interdiction Program, created in 1994 by Assembly Bill 813. The program’s primary team is based in Oakland because theft is common from ports and industrial areas, he said.

For a time, the big target in the Northern San Joaquin Valley was loads of almonds, Banuelos said. These days, common thefts are of loads intended for stores like Walmart and Costco.

According to a Road Scholar Transport article on CargoNet’s 2016 cargo theft report for the United States and Canada:

▪ There were 1,614 incidents of cargo and vehicle thefts, fraud and other related crimes last year. Of those, 836 were cargo thefts.

▪ 623 tractors were stolen, an increase of 8 percent from the previous year, and 732 trailers, up 4 percent year-over-year.

▪ Taking into consideration the average loss of $206,837 per shipment, the 836 cargo thefts in 2016 would be equivalent to nearly $173 million.

▪ Once again, food and beverage were the No. 1 products of choice among thieves, accounting for 217 thefts.

▪ While taking the No. 2 spot, electronics held the highest value loss, contributing to $45.6 million.

According to its Facebook page, StanCATT consists of members of the California Highway Patrol, Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and Modesto and Ceres police departments. The District Attorney’s Office has a deputy D.A. to prosecute all auto theft cases.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 8:24 AM with the headline "How a stolen big-rig cab, minus its trailer, tipped task force to driver’s plans."