In December 2015, seven pieces of Caterpillar heavy equipment along with specialized attachments, were reported stolen from a Caterpillar dealership in Evansville, Indiana. A joint investigation between the Evansville Police Department and Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department developed intelligence the suspects had been arrested, and several pieces of construction equipment had been recovered, in Asheville, NC as well as other jurisdictions of Indiana.

Working in conjunction with the NICB and the FBI, the investigators uncovered multiple suspects who were connected with the thefts of specialized construction equipment from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and North Carolina. Many of the pieces of equipment had not yet been identified as stolen nor their ownership determined. The product identification numbers (PIN) and identifying labels had been altered or obliterated.

In January 2015 law enforcement began the process of identifying eighty-three (83) pieces of heavy equipment, commercial trucks and construction trailers. Numerous attachments such as buckets, blades and augers also had to be identified and cross referenced to each machine. After five (5) days of labor intensive examination, approximately $2,000,000 of equipment was identified as stolen. The equipment was insured by eight different (8) insurance companies with some pieces self-insured by the theft victims. A total of eight (8) suspects were charged with multiple felonies to include crimes of; theft, burglary, sale or possession of stolen motor vehicles, money laundering, inter-state transportation of stolen vehicles and insurance fraud.

As a result of their tireless efforts and determination to see this investigation reach a successful conclusion Detective Kenny Fields (Evansville Police Department), Special Agent Kevin Haggard (National Insurance Crime Bureau), and Detective Jason King (Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office) were awarded the 2016 IAATI Heavy Equipment Award in Murfreesboro, Tennessee during the 64th annual training conference.