Security Video Shows ATV Theft From Snowy Pawnee Sale Barn Lot

The cold weather isn't slowing some criminals down. In Pawnee County, surveillance video showed a person stealing a 4-wheeler from a sale barn.

The 4-wheeler is typically used to help with feeding and taking care of livestock at the Pawnee Sale Barn. But this week, the yard manager chained a car hood to the ATV so he could pull his son around to play in the snow.

Mark Tilley, who owns the sale barn, said a truck pulled up to the property just after 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

The video showed the driver scoping out the 4-wheeler, even circling it with his truck. Tilley said the person then gets out, chains the ATV to the truck and drags the 4-wheeler and sledding hood away.

At the time it was below freezing, with a snowstorm blowing through. But Tilley said the most surprising thing is the thief carried out the crime just feet away from the yard manager's house.

“He pulls right in our parking lot, right up to the guy's house and never turns his lights off, like he keeps the truck running,” said Tilley. "Very brazen. He pulls right up and his lights are shining right on the house. I mean, like, it's 10 feet from the house where he takes it."

Tilley said the person pulled the 4-wheeler and the sledding hood about a quarter mile down the road. That’s where Tilley said the thief cut the chain, loaded up the 2017 Honda Rancher 420cc and took off, leaving the hood on the side of the road. 

Tilley said the sale barn is offering a $1,000 reward for the recovery of the ATV and the name of the thief.

Authorities ask that anyone with information on the theft call the Pawnee County Sheriff's Office at (918) 762-2565.