Night owl spots tractor thieves

Three Chicago-area men were arrested for theft early Thursday morning after a neighbor noticed strange activity near Castongia's John Deere Dealership west of Fowler.

Benton County Sheriff Butch Pritchett said dispatchers took a call around 3:00 a.m. from a resident west of Fowler who saw a pickup truck pulling an empty trailer slowly down the road with its lights off.

The caller then saw the same truck a few minutes later headed the other direction with a skidster tractor on the trailer.

Sheriff Pritchett said Benton County and Fowler police caught-up with the truck and trailer in Kentland.

Three men were arrested for theft.  They are Vincent A. Franzen, 33, Matthew James Whitmer, 22, and Jamie L. II, pronounced We, 32.  All three men are  from Sandwich, Illinois.

Sheriff Pritchett said it appeared the men parked the truck and trailer on County Road 200 West, entered Castongia's, cut the chain on the skidster, and drove it about a mile through a snow covered corn field to load it on the trailer.

The skidster loader is estimated to be worth about $40,000.

Sheriff Pritchett asks anyone with information about any other machinery or equipment thefts in the area to call Benton County police at 765-884-0080.