The man who had his trailer stolen must have had a pretty good idea of who took it and where they were going, because he located it himself before calling the police.
The trailer had been parked at the man’s Santa Rosa home Monday night. It was loaded up with four off-road motorcycles – dirt bikes – along with an air compressor and portable generator. On Tuesday morning he found that the trailer and its load were gone, but before calling police, he did some investigating himself. Heading about 5 miles up the 101 Freeway to the town of Windsor, by 1:49 in the afternoon he located it in front of a property at the 6400 block of Old Redwood Highway.
Old Redwood Highway. The trailer was found at a property along this road.
He then reported it to police, and units from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s office and Windsor Police responded to the location, according to a Sheriff’s press release. The trailer was there in the front yard as described, partly covered with tarps. The four dirt bikes were there, but the compressor and generator were missing.
Detectives waited for the thieves to return, and by the evening three people drove up to the property. 46-year-old Tommy Raymond Hitt II, a framer from Santa Rosa, and 29-year-old Derrick Russell Lamm, in from Berkeley where he works at an art gallery, were arrested as suspects in the theft. Neither were residing at the property where they had left the stolen trailer. Both men were charged with several counts of vehicle theft and possession of stolen property and booked at the Sonoma County Jail. Bail was set at $10,000.
The third person in the car was Mariya Hejla Weupe, a 40-year-old professional caretaker, at In Home Health Services. She was apparently just along for the ride, and detectives did not implicate her in the theft. However, it was found that she had outstanding warrants, and was arrested for those. She had been charged in the past of failure to care for a child, contempt of court for failure to obey a court order, and driving with a suspended licence. Bail was set for her at $50,000.
The case remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to call 707-565-2185.
