Stolen 2004 Ford F-250 Super Duty crewcab, diesel, maroon pickup and white enclosed Haulmark 20-ft enclosed trailer. Trailer says "Palm Beach Garage, Watsonville, CA" logo on the back door and sides of the trailer. Truck and trailer were stolen late Thursday (June 30th) or early morning (July 1) from the Elegante Hotel in Albuquerque. Ford Truck license plate no. 7U43022 (California). Speedster license plate number: 5FTA198 (California). Inside the trailer: 1926 Model T Ford speedster - parrot green Contact: Albuquerque Police if located Owner: Don Houseman: (831) 345-1190 Thanks all for any help- please pass on to any area car clubs etc.
This is happening more & more lately! Hope they find it soon. This scares me to death, I don't stay in hotels while transporting a customers vehicle in or on my trailers. I stay with the truck & trailer.
This is getting ridicules,It seems like we see this every week. I hope the truck,trailer & car is recovered and the thieves get castrated! HRP
I wonder if they are after the cars inside or the hope that there will be tools inside to hock. Enclosed trailers seem to be all the rage for thieves. That's kinda why I haven't invested in one....well, that and the fact that I am poor.
Root Good point. I was wondering the same re enclosed trailer. See so many of these white or black and wonder if maybe better to get your name/logo all over it?
I know one drag racer who has more then one locating device in both the Freight liner Motor home and the stacker trailer just in case they have to track it. When I asked him how much they spend just on those devices he said it less then $1,500 dollars to protect $400,000.00 worth of race cars and parts. Jimbo
I read elsewhere that the truck was found, no trailer or car. It was probably grabbed for the trailer and the car was a big surprise. Too unique to hide or try to sell.
This happens EVERYWHERE .... Don't make your tow rig an opportunity ... I travel the lower 48 states year round towing a big @ss enclosed trailer. Park in a well lit area. Back your truck & trailer up to an obstruction (wall - light pole - other vehicle) so the back cannot be unloaded. Park where you can see your rig if possible. Disable your tow vehicle so it cannot be started. Block the front of your vehicle from moving forward with another vehicle. Unless you are SPECIFICALLY TARGETED because someone is following you & knows what you are hauling ... Most truck and/or trailer thefts are allowed by OPPORTUNITY. SEND potential thieves to the next guy ... Sad but true folks ... If you make your tow rig difficult to steal - a thief will go to an easier target. Jim
Guys- the truck was recovered when two of the thieves tried to use it in a home break in. Still no trailer or speedster. Below is a picture of the logo on the back door of Don's trailer. Please pass the word and keep a lookout. We are hope full the trailer and car are still in the area. thanks all.
I have a Geo Sky Tracker in my race car trailer. It cost around $350 which includes a year of monitoring. It cost about $100 per year after the first year for them to provide the tacking service. When the trailer is moved more than 1/10 of a mlle from where it is parked I get an alert to my cell phone. If I click on the alert I get a real time moving map with the trailers current position as it is towed down the road. Every time the trailer stops and then moves again I get another alert. You can also wire all the doors so if any of them are opened you get an alert. When I tow the trailer to the races I usually have 10 or more alerts by the time I get to the track as I stop for traffic or gas. I ignore these alerts since I am the one towing the trailer. After I bought the Geo Sky Tracker a racing friend told me I had wasted my money because the cops probably wouldn't respond if I called them when if the trailer was stolen. I wasn't real happy thinking he might be right. But I could always track down the shit heads myself. However, a week later I was at a local coffee shop where the local cops and the Highway patrol officers stop to have coffee in the morning. I apologized for interrupting their break and told them about my tracking device and asked them if they would normally respond if someone stole my trailer with the tracking device. HELL YES was the groups unanimous answer. That type of call makes our day... Chasing a crook with a stolen trailer, being able to watch his every move and the crook doesn' know that we are chasing him. It doesn't get any better than that! That made me feel really good. Hopefully my trailer never gets stolen but at least I have an excellent chance of getting the trailer back and even seeing the crooks go to jail.
Update- the truck was recovered with two perps- no trailer or car yet. Below is the logo on the back door of the trailer. Thanks All. Dan
20 minutes with the perps and a ball peen hammer should get some information. Start with toes and proceed to fingers.
There is a rash of tool thievery going on right now and especially in SO. California. They are hitting trailers and tool trucks. I won't even keep my garage door open unless I am in it and I only have the typical tool set. The tool guys are being ripped off in parking lots as they shop and when the trucks are parked in front of their homes and where they are working at the moment. Tools, generators and anything else that might bring in a buck or two. Stay vigilant of your tools, people.
People are driving around on weekends scoping out garages by me. I'm at the head of a dead end street but they still try. When I was doing a lot of machine shop work in my garage I used to hang a fabric shower curtain at the top of the open door so it blocked my shop from prying eyes. It may be time to get that going again.
Hi All- just wanted to update everyone- no news on the trailer or Model t yet. Several news stations have broadcast the theft and we are still hope full that the trailer and/or car will turn up. Please stay vigilent and pass the work at every opportunity. Thanks Everyone
The perps won't say what they did with the trailer and car? In addition to the theft of the truck, have the police/DA also charged them with the theft of the trailer and car? Even though the trailer/car wasn't attached to the truck when they were caught, they should threaten to add the two addition counts of grand theft (tripling the vehicle theft charge on top of the home burglary). It should be the DA's position that the 3 units were stolen by them as the theft was one act of the 3 unit theft. Hopefully, they'll come forward with info on the trailer/car.
If I had an enclosed trailer I'd paint the roof of it bright yellow with a couple of big black "X"s on it. Or a big red and white bulls-eye or a checkerboard pattern. Would at least make it easier to spot from the air.
I always said I'd paint at least the roof dayglo pink and have my phone number on it in 2' tall numbers.
I agree, however, unless it's thier own, they don't seem to care. It's job security for the people working our joke of a "justice" system if they don't actually go out of thier way and do what you said, it seems they want repeat offenders. On the other hand, if you serve your own form of justice on the scum that stole from you, they'll come down even harder on you!
Invest in a portable compressor, when you park up, let the air out of both front tires. Also you could get a GPS TRACKED sticker on it, if they think they're gonna be caught they'll move on.
Good news!! I just got an email from one of the local car clubs. The Speedster was recovered with no damages to it. Here is the content of the email; The Model T speedster stolen in Albuquerque has been recovered and is awaiting its trip home to California. It was spotted by swap meet vendor Bruce Hartman early this morning as he was driving on Bobby Foster Rd. He notified the Albuquerque Police and Bernalillo County Sheriff. The car is now safe and undamaged. The trailer is still missing. It is great how the car community responded and watched for the car. Thank you to all who kept a lookout. Good show, troops! Joyce From: Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 10:44 AM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Speedster Recovery details I got a call from the police department about 7:30 this morning that the speedster was located. I was on the call list to pick up the car and/or trailer to avoid impounding charges. I hooked up my trailer and drove south of Albuquerque on I-25. The car was abandoned in an arroyo east of the Interstate just south of Rio Bravo and I-25. The officer took my identification and gave me the keys which were left with the car. It was in deep sand and hard to get my trailer lined up so I tried to start it. It started up just fine, oil pressure OK. I should have just drove it to a good spot to line the trailer but decided to turn it around and drive on the trailer. As luck would have it it died crossways in the sand and the battery did not have enough juice to turn it over. Since it has no crank I had to tow it a bit to line up with the trailer. Anyway, got it on the trailer and back to my house by 10 AM. There is no visible damage to the car. Don and Nancy Housman are really happy
Thanks, but I can't take any credit. All I did was copy and paste the email I received. It looks like a local vendor Bruce Hartman was the eagle eye who located it. I think a big round of frosty beverages in his honor is in order. I'm just very glad that it wasn't damaged in anyway. It seems as if the bottom-feeder thieves were only interested in the trailer. I'm glad its making its way back home
Everyone- just wanted to say thanks for all the support and getting the word out. I'd like to think that all the publicity surrounding the theft had a lot to do with the car getting dumped and recovered. Dan
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