Sheriff’s deputies in Washington say they found backhoe stolen from a construction site near Bend on a property near Mattawa, Washington. GPS tracking shows the construction vehicle traveled 250 miles from state to state.
On Sunday, Grant County Sheriff’s Deputies say they noticed the 2020 John Deere 410L on property in the 30000 block of State Route 243 South near Mattawa.
The property owner was questioned about the backhoe, which was visibly out of place compared to other materials and vehicles on the property, deputies said.
Deputies say, through their investigation they learned the backhoe was stolen on February, 9th from a construction site in the Bend area.
The backhoe, valued at $160,000, suffered two broken windows and was picked up by its legal owner, said deputies.
The sheriff’s office said the backhoe’s owner was able to review GPS tracking of the equipment which showed the GPS pings traveling at around 25 miles per hour, about top speed for the backhoe, from where it was stolen near Bend to where it was discovered near Mattawa..
Since the owner of the property does not have access to anything that would tow the 30,000-pound backhoe, one of the few conclusions is that it was driven on roadways for the entire 250-mile trip, making for 10-hours of travel, the sheriff’s office stated in their Facebook post.
The property owner did not provide any verifiable explanation as to how the backhoe got there, the sheriff’s office said, and deputies continue to investigate.
