NEW MEXICO -- The Valencia County Sheriff's Office is helping investigate the theft of high dollar items from freight trains from the BNSF rail yards, but a spokesman for the railroad denied there has been any recent theft of any valuable items, the Valencia County News-Bulletin reports.
Deputy Chris Trujillo said suspects stole plasma televisions and all terrain vehicles from a stopped train. He did not have an exact time frame, but said the theft occurred in late November or early December.
Trujillo said BNSF has surveillance video of the incident, and the sheriff's office is providing them with photographs of potential suspects.
BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said there was an attempted burglary of a train near Los Lunas about eight months ago, but the suspects were unable to get away with any stolen items.
About two weeks ago, someone stole copper from a train in Belen, but Faust said that is believed to be an isolated incident. He said reports of recent thefts of audio visual equipment are not accurate.
Trujillo said theft from the trains is an ongoing problem. He said an organized group of thieves was targeting electronics on trains in California, and then following them across Arizona and New Mexico.
Faust said a suspect has developed in that particular case. He said the gang gained access to rail cars and stole primarily flat panel televisions. He said there was an unsuccessful attempt to steal items from a train in Belen.
BNSF has worked with local law enforcement to combat the theft problem, and railroad employees follow the trains to prevent thieves from getting on board.
"I don't want to minimize it," Faust said. "There was an active band of thieves that was a serious concern. We believe we have seriously disrupted that group."
(The preceding article by John Bear was published January 16, 2010, by the Valencia County News-Bulletin.)
That's the thing about containers vs boxcars or trailers. It's all imported items and likely to be TV's or other electronical items. Of course there could be mundane shit like clothing and everything else you find in the stores today but a very good likelyhood of something electronical.
__________________
If you are in a horror movie, you make bad decisions, its what you do.
