A 2013 Chevrolet Silverado, owned by Warren County Electric, was torched after it was allegedly stolen from a parking lot near an apartment complex and then driven to Niehoff Drive, near a city water tower, Eureka Police reported. Tools had also been taken from the pickup.
The Silverado was valued at $14,000, and the stolen tools are estimated to be worth $5,000, police reported.
Police were dispatched at about 3 a.m. March 22 to Niehoff Drive while the Eureka Fire Protection District was putting out the blaze. The pickup was destroyed, but authorities were able to identify the company it belonged to by the license plate, the report said.
At about 5 a.m. March 22, the pickup was reported to have been stolen from a parking lot near Legend Terrace Drive, which is 3/10 mile from the water tower. The man who reported the theft told police he had the keys to the vehicle, which was locked, and his wife had seen it parked in the lot at about 11:30 p.m. March 21, according to the report.
Police also received reports of two other vehicles that were rummaged through in the area, but nothing was reported stolen, the report said.
Surveillance video showed the pickup being driven on Niehoff Drive at about 2 a.m. and stopping near the water tower. A person got out of the pickup and began to rummage around the vehicle before a smaller pickup, possibly a Ford Ranger or Chevrolet S-10, pulled up near the stolen pickup, the report said.
The man who got out of the stolen pickup then allegedly started taking items from the Silverado and putting them into the cab and bed of the smaller pickup, the report said.
Surveillance shows the same man allegedly starting fires in the pickup’s cab and the bed, and then getting in the smaller pickup, which drove away, according to the report.
As of March 28, no suspects had been identified, and none of the tools had been recovered, Capt. David Wilson said.
Anyone with information about the incident should call Eureka Police at 636-938-6600.