LAYTON, Utah — A Kaysville firefighter is down $19, 500 after this individual was offered a stolen skid steer and returned it to its owner.
Kacey Adams lives in Layton, Ut, working for the Kaysville Fire Department. He does construction work as a side job to bring in more income to help support his family and has been searching for a skid steer for some time.
“When there is a good deal out there, they go pretty quick, ” Adams said.
He spotted one for sale on KSL Classifieds. Adams said it was listed as a 2013 Kubota.
“I called the guy, asked him some simple questions about the particular machine, ” Adams recalled. “[He] gave me good answers. On the listing, it said he recently replaced the tires on this and done some other things to it maintenance-wise. ”
Adams stated the seller told him to meet at a Draper apartment complex parking lot after work.
“It was pretty rough, pretty dirty, ” Adams said. “For the price, I didn’t think it was unreasonable. ”
The skid steer was originally listed for $22, 000, but with the condition, this was inside, Adams negotiated that number down to $19, 000 in cash.
The KSL Classifies listing of the stolen skid steer. (KSL-TV)
Adams took it home and spent several hours cleaning this up, but he mentioned he had a gut feeling something was off with the offer.
“I looked up the serial number on the machine just in order to try and figure out what year it had been. It came back as the 2019 slide steer. ”
Adams then called Layton police and had them look up the equipment.
“They came out plus ran it, and it came back and didn’t show anything, ” he said. “That has been because the particular people it was stolen from did not know this was taken yet. ”
Eventually, that skid drive theft would be reported to the Draper Police Department.
Adams said this individual took the particular skid guide to the fire department after finding a tracking device upon it.
“If the person who owned it had been going to track it, I didn’t want them to display up at my house, ” Adams stated.
The Kaysville firefighter is out $19, 500 after buying a large piece of equipment from KSL Classifieds…only to find out it was stolen.
Law enforcement tell us the men behind the scheme have been arrested. And this isn’t the particular first time they’ve carried out this.
Full story on @KSL5TV at 6. pic. twitter. com/rYrjNzku2L
— Shelby Lofton (@newswithShelby) December 21, 2022
At that point, he mentioned he was almost certain it had been thieved. A few days later, the original proprietor showed up in the open fire department. Adams returned the skid control to your pet, but he or she didn’t get his money back.
“People will ask, ‘Well don’t they come with a title? How did you not know? ’ Well, they don’t have titles with regard to heavy equipment, which is crazy to me because of how much money you spend on all of them, that there’s not a better way to monitor them, ” Adams explained.
He plus his wife contacted their insurance company and said they will likely never see that money again.
“There are two victims. You have the individual who’s actually missing the particular item, and then you have the person that will paid, and in this particular case, a lot of money for the item, plus it’s often very hard to recoup that cash, ” stated Lieutenant Pat Evans along with the Draper Police Department.
Evans mentioned Draper police worked with the Salt Lake City and Sandy police departments on this investigation.
“Sandy experienced another skid steer stolen. It was marketed to a victim, also it arrived to them the same way, ” Evans described. “They were able in order to put together a few information that made these two suspects for their own theft. They reached out to us. ”
Derek Clark Johanson and Tell Duane Hammerstrom had been arrested following Adams’ taken skid steer purchase plus face theft charges.
“The way this pair of thieves work will be they really do this during the particular daytime, ” Evans said. “They will actually find the skid drive at a construction site, take photographs associated with it, list it for sale. Once they possess a buyer, they in fact then go steal the skid guide and move the skid steer from the construction site to an area close by. ”
Johanson has faced charges and been convicted multiple times for selling stolen pieces of construction gear at a price that’s below market value.
Other listings for building equipment on KSL Classifieds. (KSL-TV)
In 2021, KSL TV documented on a good Utah County couple he allegedly scammed out of thousands of dollars after selling them the stolen slide steer.
“He’s done this particular so much, yet he’s still available and can continue to do it, ” Adams stated.
Adams and Evans mentioned it’s frustrating to have got repeat offenders always scam people.
“Fortunately and unfortunately, we had the particular criminal justice system that will we have got, so they’re given opportunities because oftentimes, criminals have some sort of addiction or something they are fighting, which is why they’re committing the crime, and so there’s different steps that are taken by the proper rights system, and it also takes a long time to put these people away for some of these serious crimes, Evans explained.
Adams said not having a veer steer will certainly set him back on his construction projects. His family has organized a GoFundMe * for your pet to assist make up for the missing cash.
“It was a lesson we learned the hardest way possible, and we just move on, ” Adams said. “There’s nothing else we can do. ”
*KSL TV does not assure that the money deposited in order to the account will be applied for the particular benefit associated with the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering the deposit to the accounts, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.