Sheriff’s office recovers stolen four-wheelers, tractors

Austin County Sheriff’s Office investigators recovered approximately $100,000 worth of stolen items including trailers.

The Austin County Sheriff’s Office made several arrests in July after investigators cracked several cases involving stolen four-wheelers, tractors and other property.

“It’s been a really busy month for our investigators,” Lt. Al Cordeiro said. “We just had a rash of four-wheelers stolen, and there was enough information going to start arresting some of these people.”

Investigators received their big break July 29 when they executed a search warrant on a rural property off Brockstein Road in the Sealy area.

“We walked into that warehouse and were like, ‘Wow, where do you start,’” Cordeiro said. “That stuff was probably worth close to $100,000.”

Some of the stolen items recovered included a John Deere tractor, four-wheelers, welding machines and plasma cutters, compressors, motorcycles, trailers and wheeled barbecue pits.

The recovered property had been stolen from Austin, Wharton, Colorado, Montgomery and Harris Counties.

Luis Masson, 45, of Sealy was arrested on charges of theft and possession of a controlled substance.

But the Brockstein Road incident was not the only case investigators cracked. They started the month by recovering a stolen John Deere tractor on July 8.

“It was stolen out of Harris County in March of 2008,” Cordeiro said. “It was a local theft booked in June for theft of property, but we’ve got another case going against him.”

Investigators have a suspect but he has not been booked as of press time.

Two weeks later, they recovered two stolen four-wheelers and reels of copper wire from a property on FM 331 North.

Daniel Griffin, 20, of Burleigh was booked July 28, charged with theft of property between $1,500 and $2,000.

Following the Brockstein Road incident, the sheriff’s office received information July 31 about a possibly stolen four-wheeler being hidden in the woods behind a West Austin Street resident in Bellville.

Investigators recovered a four-wheeler, four bicycles, a riding mower, a DVD player and speakers and other lawn maintenance items.

Randy Mutina, 29, of Bellville was arrested and charged with burglary of a habitation.

“We’ve had a lot of stolen property reported recently, and we’re doing the best we can to recover it,” Cordeiro said.

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