Thieves Hit A Tuolumne County Business
Tuolumne County, CA – Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Officials report they were alerted to the burglary by an employee at a nearby business.
They say on Tuesday at around 4am an employee of WM Murphy arrived to work on O’Byrnes Ferry Road and noticed the barbed wire fence had been cut. Deputies say the employee also saw a vehicle with George Reed Inc. decals on it that didn’t belong there so he called the authorities.
Deputies say when they arrived on the scene they discovered George Reed Inc. was a neighboring business and it had been burglarized. They say a list of items stolen from the shop included welders, plasma cutter, compressors, various hand tools, computers and 2 business vehicles. One of them was the vehicle found at WM Murphy. Sheriff’s Officials say the stolen equipment, not including the vehicles, is valued at $10,000.
Later that day, a parole officer and Sonora Police officer were doing a routine check on parolee Ervie “Scooter” Smith at the Sonora Gold Lodge in Sonora. They say during the check they noticed items in Smith’s room with markings for George Reed Inc. and determined it was some of the stolen property.
Sheriff’s Officials say further investigation turned up more stolen items at a location in Jamestown. They say most of the stolen property has been returned to the business.
Smith was arrested for violation of parole, vehicle theft, burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, possession of narcotics, and possession of paraphernalia.
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