The Clark County Sheriff’s Office is advising Enon and Mad River Township-area residents to be wary of the serial trailer thief sweeping this section of the county.
Numerous trailers of all sorts have been stolen from the area in the past three months, and deputies have said the thief does not seem to follow any sort of pattern, as he or she strikes in both daylight and dark. Utility trailers, tow-behind trailers, and even custom or homemade trailers have been targeted, and are being stolen from yards and driveways.
Sergeant Chad Brown of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office urged residents with trailers parked outside to “make it as difficult as possible” for thieves to abscond with their property, noting that this sort of criminal does not want to work very hard to steal someone else’s belongings.
Brown said that eight trailers have been reported stolen from Mad River Township since the rash of thefts began a few months back. One of the first notable trailer thefts occurred at Greenon High School’s Vo-Ag barn, where the thief or thieves got away with a custodian’s personal utility trailer that was full of supplies.
In most of these cases, the trailers have been secured with locks and wheel-locks, but the thieves have been cutting right through them and stealing them without seeming to have any problems. Brown said that those who own trailers with removable tongues should remove the tongue from the trailer when not in use, as one means of theft prevention.
Brown also advised that it could be a good idea to park vehicles in front of the trailers in order to prevent the thief from gaining access.
“Anything that makes it as difficult as possible to get to that trailer will help,” said Brown. “They don’t want to work any harder than they have to.”
The sheriff’s office is exploring possible leads in connection with the most recent trailer thefts that occurred in Green Meadows two weekends ago. In one of those incidents, a truck believed to be associated with the crime was caught on surveillance, which provided deputies a good starting point for their investigation.
The Enon Eagle will provide updates on this case as they become available.