YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The thieves who stole two trailers from an apartment complex on Logangate in Liberty Township likely didn't realize the true value of what they had.
Liberty Township Police Chief Rich Tisone tells 21 News, "Based on what the victims told us, they said the value of the contents was over half-a-million dollars."
The two trailers were full of equipment related to the oil and gas drilling industry, and it appears after stealing and then breaking into the trailers, the thieves left many of the valuables behind.
"I believe after they went through the contents of the trailers they grabbed some things that they could easily take, pawn and what not. Some quick cash," Chief Tisone says.
A Youngstown Police Patrol Officer found the trailers Monday afternoon. They had been dumped on Ella Street, near East High School, after being stolen from Liberty during the early morning hours on Monday.
Likely a crime of opportunity, according to authorities who say the trailers were stolen sometime between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Monday.
Liberty's police chief was already working the case and says there have been several similar incidents in the last couple of weeks. 21 WFMJ has confirmed the crimes have occurred not only in Liberty, but several other Trumbull County communities.
"We've had a couple of trailers, some lawn equipment taken in the last couple of weeks. So we've got the names of some suspects and we're going to be looking into it," Chief Tisone said.
The property in this case belonged to Frontrunner Seismic, a company out of Westfield, Pennsylvania that does surveying and field exploration for the oil and gas drilling industry in Trumbull, Mahoning and Portage counties.
The owners of the equipment have lived in the Valley for about four months.
As the owners showed up at the scene, they told police that among the stolen items are possibly six Stiehl and Husqvarna chainsaws.
Liberty's police chief has now called in BCI, the state's crime lab, to process the stolen trailers for evidence.
The owners of the trailers did not want to comment to reporters, but were clearly relieved that police were able to locate some of their property, and thanked Liberty police for their quick work, along with the Youngstown patrol officer.
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