Stolen dozer baffles police

Heavy equipment disappearing

June 13, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - The latest piece of heavy equipment to go missing in the Valley disappeared Friday from the Creekside Ranch subdivision near the intersection of the Parks and Glenn highways.

Employees of Turner Construction reported the theft of a yellow Case 850 Dozer to Alaska State Troopers Friday afternoon, but the dozer most likely was taken during the night.

&#8220It had to be in the wee hours of the morning,” Rex Turner said. &#8220We watched the site until about midnight. This is a 20,000-pound piece of equipment. They had to be prepared with a low boy.”

Turner is offering a $2,500 reward for the recovery of his dozer and the conviction of the thief or thieves.

&#8220Somebody saw it,” Turner said. &#8220Somebody will know about it.”

Although troopers put the value of the dozer at $30,000, it cost Turner $70,000 to replace it immediately.

&#8220I had to replace it and replace it now,” he said. &#8220We have guys on the payroll, and they have to have the equipment.”

Turner said he trusts his employees not to have been involved in the theft.

&#8220The people that work for us are generational employees,” he said. &#8220This would almost have to be a gold miner or homesteader. It must be up in the hills somewhere by now. You can't sell it.”

Turner has been flying in ever-widening circles, looking for his equipment, but has had no luck.

&#8220It's a big state,” he said.

Troopers say some people do try to sell big equipment, providing a good deal to anyone who doesn't care where it came from.

&#8220It's not necessarily for personal use,” said Jason Fieser, a trooper investigator. &#8220I caught one guy who tried to sell one that wasn't his. He tried to sell it for $8,000, just to turn it over pretty quick.”

The first felony reported in the Valley this year was the theft of a Caterpillar excavator stolen from a Big Lake man. John Comoza is scheduled for trial for the theft in July.

Trooper Shannon Fore discovered a pot grow and a stolen Dodge pickup truck while searching Comoza's property for the Cat. Comoza had sold the excavator, and the man who bought it told troopers about it, Fore said.

&#8220He was looking for an excavator and thought it was a good deal.” Fore said.

On May 18, David Bosch, of Wasilla, reported to troopers that someone stole his 2000 black and yellow 302.5 Caterpillar excavator and the 2004 Trail King flatbed trailer it was sitting on from the EZ Rents at Mile 51 Parks Highway. Bosch told troopers the excavator was stolen sometime after May 14 at 4 p.m. and estimated the total value of the missing items at about $25,000.

Someone had rented the Cat and trailer for the weekend and just dropped it off at the rental company, Bosch said. In the 25 years he has been doing business, it has been standard practice for people to do that, but now he will have to put up fencing and cameras, Bosch said.

About 10 different people have told Bosch that they, too, have had their heavy equipment stolen, he said. If someone is offering the machinery for sale at a huge discount, it should make you wonder, he said.

&#8220We had someone call on Friday and say they saw one with our stickers on it heading north from Willow,” Bosch said. &#8220That means they are using it locally and are too dumb to take the stickers off.”

Bosch said he is offering a $3,500 reward just for the return of the equipment, and he knows about five or six pilots who are looking around for his Cat and trailer.

&#8220I feel it will be spotted by someone, somewhere,” he said. &#8220We put flyers up at the Talkeetna post office and Tesoro, and the Texaco in Willow.”

Bosch acknowledged that his excavator could end up in a mine somewhere.

&#8220But someone might work there a year and then they might talk,” he said.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@ frontiersman.com.