Rash of ATV thefts have owners and area police frustrated

Some ATV thieves are on the loose in the Tulsa area. Someoneâ€™s been stealing ATV's from homes all over the area, out of drive-ways and even locked garages. <br/><br/>The victims are frustrated

Tuesday, May 4th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Some ATV thieves are on the loose in the Tulsa area. Someoneâ€™s been stealing ATV's from homes all over the area, out of drive-ways and even locked garages.

The victims are frustrated and police offer little hope that the four-wheelers will be returned. News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright says when Aimee Deckard some Christmas pictures, she thought it'd be one of the best ever.

She and her husband surprised the boys with brand new ATV's. Yamaha Blasters, one blue, the other red and white. Then, they bought new ATV's for themselves, a blue Yamaha Raptor for dad and a red and white Yamaha Warrior for mom, they had big plans. "Spending time riding them together, just doing family activities."

All those plans went up in smoke, because thieves broke into the Deckard's garage on a recent Sunday night, while the family was sleeping, and stole all four, four-wheelers. The Deckardâ€™s even parked their cars super close to the garage for added security, but the thieves disengaged something under the cars so they'd roll back and they could drive the ATV's right out of the garage.

Now the Deckardâ€™s have four titles that are useless and since their insurance company says the ATV's weren't covered, now, they're stuck making payments on something they don't have for the next three years. "Very mad, because we work hard for the tings we have and now, we're out all that money." Aimee thinks the state should require ATV's to be tagged, so they'd be easier to trace. But for now, they're easy pickings.

"It shatters your sense of security. I'm a trusting person and I'd never dream someone would be so brazen and come in our garage while we're there and taken something from us." An officer told them, there'd been 10 other cases of stolen ATV's in the past two weeks, but that brings no comfort to boys who had their Christmas stolen by a very mean Grinch.

As a matter of fact, Lori ran into a guy Tuesday who was posting a reward picture all over town. He's offering a $5,000 reward because someone stole four of his four-wheelers and the trailer just three days ago near Berryhill. ATV's are so popular with thieves right now that people should go out of their way to lock them up, also check your insurance policy to see if they're covered.

Lori suggests ATV owners should take their four-wheelers and trailers to the Tulsa County Sheriff's office. They'll put a secret number on them so if they are stolen and recovered, they can be returned to their owner.