The Navarro County Sheriff's Office said they arrested a man after they recovered $300,000 to $500,000 worth of stolen equipment and vehicles on Wednesday.
The Navarro County Sheriff's Office arrested Richard Wiese on Wednesday.
Sheriff Elmer Tanner said a traffic stop was conducted of a vehicle leaving the 300 block of SW 0020 in Navarro County around 7 a.m. Wednesday. Two people were inside the vehicle. Deputies obtained a search warrant for the property.
"Officers have found a number of items stolen from across Central Texas," Sheriff Tanner said. "We believe we've broken up a pretty large theft ring operated in the Central Texas area."
Tanner said high end pick up trucks, off-road vehicles, 18-wheelers, a Caterpillar backhoe, lawn equipment, an aluminum horse trailer and several camping trailers were recovered.
The caterpillar backhoe was stolen in 2016 out of Anderson County, Tanner said.
"To recover $300,000 or $500,000 worth of equipment in one sweep, that's a big bust for any county," Tanner said.
Casie Miller and Ryan Williams were at the scene Wednesday to pick up their camper.
They had dropped it off at an RV store in Red Oak on December 8th for repairs. On December 28th, they got a call from the store that the camper had been stolen.
"All my kids stuff was in there," Miller said.
On Wednesday, Miller and Williams got the call that Navarro County Deputies found their camper.
"It's destroyed. It's demolished," Miller said.
"I wouldn't even let dogs live it it. It's bad," Williams said.
Miller said they plan to file an insurance claim.
"[To whoever did this] get a job. Get a life," Miller said.
Tanner said they are still investigating where all of these items came from and who is responsible.
"We're going to be looking for this type of activity and this is probably not the place you should be bringing it to," Tanner said.
The Navarro County Sheriff's Office was out at the location on Friday and discovered two more trailers and a motorcycle.
Agencies from North Texas are conducting investigations.
Weise is being charged with theft of property over $300,000. He is being held on a $250,000 bond.
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