Eureka Police are investigating the theft of three pickups that belong to employees of a construction company that is replacing 30.2-mile oil pipeline between Villa Ridge and Fenton. The theft happened Aug. 12, when the three Price Gregory Construction employees were working on a section of the pipeline that runs through Eureka. They discovered their pickups missing after leaving them unlocked with the keys inside in an unsecured parking lot at Modern Tech Equipment, 18609 Hwy. 66, Eureka Police reported.
Another employee had a window smashed on his 2012 Mazda CX-9 SUV, the report said.
Officers were first called to the lot at 2:15 p.m. when a brown 2021 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup was found missing and a rear window on the SUV was found broken. The pickup, which belongs to a 67-year-old Cuba man, was valued at about $60,000, and the damage to the window on the SUV, which belongs to a 29-year-old St. Charles man, was estimated at about $1,000, according to the report.
About two hours later, police returned to the lot when two more pickups were found missing – a 29-year-old St. Charles man’s white 2010 Ford F-450 with gold stripes and a 22-year-old Osceola woman’s brown 2017 Dodge Ram 2500. The Ford F-450 was valued at $30,000, and the 2017 Ram was worth about $46,500, the report said.
As of Aug. 26, none of the stolen pickups had been recovered, and no suspects had been identified, Lt. Michael Werges said. Anyone with information about the incident should call Eureka Police at 636-938-6600.