Good-news update: Stolen Bend Haibtat trusses returned
Bend police said Wednesday that 28 stolen building trusses and a trailer were returned to Bend Area Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore on Third Street.
The nonprofit said the 36-foot-long building materials and trailer were stolen Friday night, prompting police to issue a Crime Stoppers alert on Tuesday. Police said Wednesday they were not ready to provide more information on how the materials were found, and there’s no word yet of any arrests.
Habitat officials said they were grateful for the community’s help.
“It’s wonderful,” said Sophie Paez, director of retail operations. “We’re just so thankful for the community coming together and helping us recover these babies — which are now for sale again.”
Earlier story:
It’s a crime of giant proportions, as Bend police hunt for suspects who stole 28 36-foot long building trusses from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
Police spokesman Clint Burleigh saidTuesday the theft occurred between Saturday evening and Monday morning, and the thieves also took off with the nonprofit’s 20-foot flatbed trailer. It’s believed the suspects used the trailer to haul off the supplies.
“It’s personal to us, and hard to understand why somebody would do that,” said Habitat for Humanity spokeswoman Robin Cooper Engle. “We’re already an organization that serves low-income people, and we’re trying to do a good thing at this store by offering opportunities for people to save (money) from going to other places.”
When asked what would a thief do with the materials, Director of Retail Operations Sophie Paez had an idea/
“Best guess is somebody may be building a shop,” Paez said. “The Building Department has been notified.”
Paez said the thieves also ripped out and stole an expensive control panel from a hot tub they had recently sold.
Together, that’s about $10,000 in stolen goods. It’s lost money meant to do good in the community — the nonprofit uses funds raised from its resale store to build and provide homes to low-income families, who also contribute “sweat equity.”
“That money translates into serving more families, and that trailer is used on a daily basis to go and pick up donations from wonderful community members,” Cooper Engle said.
She’s referring to donations just like those missing trusses, which were given to the nonprofit by a home builder in Powell Butte. A freight company volunteered its time to pick them up and drop them off at the store along Third Street.
The load was so big that the truck driver could not get into Habitat for Humanity’s gates. Instead, the trusses were left on the backside of its shop — accessible to the public, by Underwood Avenue.
Paez believes the trailer was stolen when the thieves lifted the rope gate to get to the store’s parking lot.
Police need your help to recover the trusses and the trailer. The trailer’s Oregon license plate is: U423447.
“We would love the community’s help,” Paez said. “It seems like the kind of load that would stand out.”
If you have any information, contact Bend police at 541-693-6911. You can also contact the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-877-876-TIPS, or use the form on KTVZ.COM’sCrime Stoppers page. You can remain anonymous, and you could be eligible for a cash reward.
