Rash of car crimes reported
Staff writer
A series of crimes involving pickups and cars are being investigated by sheriff’s deputies.
On Saturday, a 1996 Chevrolet pickup owned by Timothy Wedel was stolen near Goessel.
Later, Wedel’s pickup was found abandoned near Durham, and a 2017 Ford pickup owned by Seth Bartel was stolen.
Sheriff Rob Craft said Bartel’s pickup was found Sunday morning in a parking lot at El Dorado’s Walmart.
El Dorado patrol sergeant Daniel Jones said Tuesday that no one had reported theft of a car or truck from the parking lot.
Marion County undersheriff Larry Starkey said another pickup was found abandoned Monday afternoon but deputies did not know whether that incident was related.
No suspects have been identified, Craft said.
At 5:43 p.m. Thursday, sheriff’s deputies and Hillsboro police, firefighters, and ambulance were sent to an abandoned car on its side with an open door in a creek at 250th and Indigo Rds.
A driver’s license was found in the car, but no occupant was at the scene.
“We’re working a case on that,” Craft said. “No driver has been identified at this time.”
The previous weekend, damage to campground bathrooms and showers, as well as $5,000 damage to a 2000 Dodge Caravan, were reported at Marion Reservoir.
Craft said the perpetrators broke fixtures in the restrooms and showers Sept. 10.
The van, registered to a business represented by Frank Finley of rural Emporia, suffered damaged windows and had been beaten on.
In yet another incident, Goessel resident Leanne Wonser reported Sept. 11 that two cars on her property had been spray painted between 11 a.m. Sept. 10 and 11 a.m. Sept. 11. A license plate was stolen from one of the cars.
Damage was estimated at $2,500. Craft said his office had no additional information about that case.