MIAMI — Everfleet LLC, a national transportation company, is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people captured on surveillance video stealing a $400,000 auto transport tractor-trailer. Investigators believe the suspects might be members of organized crime rings targeting the trucking industry.
The incident took place in the early-morning hours of May 29, 2020 at 4850 SW 52nd St. in Davie, Florida, where the truck driver parked the vehicle overnight. A video-surveillance camera onboard Everfleet’s vehicle captured the crime in progress.
In the video, a white four-door Jeep Wrangler, which might have been following the tractor-trailer arrives at the crime scene, followed by a white semitrailer truck. Next, two men can be seen walking around the auto transport tractor-trailer and attempting to break into the cabin. In the enhanced video images, one suspect is smoking a cigarette, wearing an orange hat and an orange long-sleeved shirt. The second suspect is wearing a black hat and a blue T-shirt.
The suspects drove away in the stolen auto transport tractor with the trailer attached (the photo above is of a similar tractor-trailer). Law-enforcement officers later found the tractor abandoned on Interstate 75 near Naples. The auto transport trailer, which was empty at the time, is still missing. The Davie Police Department is investigating the theft.
Anthony Carmel of Everfleet said that organized crime rings are targeting South Florida tractor-trailers as they go to and from the ports, stealing valuable cargo and equipment. In a recent report, the FBI found that nearly 40% of all cargo thefts occurred in parking lots or garages. Nationally, cargo theft accounts for between $15 billion and $30 billion in losses annually and have increased by 25% since 2019. Florida currently ranks third in the country for tractor-trailer thefts.
“Regardless of how thieves operate — by pilfering trucks and trailers left in parking lots or by executing violent hijackings, they risk the lives of our drivers and drive up the associated costs that are then passed along to consumers,” said Luis Diaz, attorney for Everfleet. “This is why we are asking for the community’s help to bring the thieves to justice and break up the organized crime rings.”
Anyone with information about the suspects in the video is asked to contact Luis E. Diaz at 305-642-0078 or Anthony Carmel at 305-842-9858. The identity of those providing information about the theft will remain confidential.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
$5,000 reward offered for information leading to arrest, conviction of suspects recorded stealing auto transport tractor-trailer
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