Investigators on Sunday were seeking more information about the theft of three Humvees, more than a dozen bayonets, seven free-standing machine gun tripods and other military equipment from an Army Reserve warehouse in Southern California.
The Tustin Police Department said in a statement that the stolen items, including medical equipment and 40 pairs of binoculars, were taken on the night of Jan. 8 from an Army Reserve Center in Tustin, Calif., which is about 34 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The police recovered two of the Humvees on Saturday after receiving tips from the public, Lt. Matt Nunley, a spokesman for the department, said on Sunday. The military vehicles were found in the nearby cities of Orange and Santa Ana.
Lieutenant Nunley said that the police did not have information about the thieves because the military did not have surveillance cameras on the warehouse. He said the police were seeking footage from other cameras in the area.
The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division said in a statement that it was “continuing to investigate this matter alongside our local law enforcement partners and therefore cannot provide additional information at this time.”
Investigators have been sifting through tips that include reports of sightings of Humvees that are being used to respond to the wildfires in Los Angeles, Lieutenant Nunley said. Humvees are four-wheel-drive tactical vehicles designed to protect passengers and cargo in wars.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has deployed the National Guard to help with the wildfire response.
The thieves entered a storage warehouse at the Army Reserve Center between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., the police said. It’s unclear when the thieves left with the stolen goods, which also included eight machine gun vehicle mounts.
Investigators found multiple storage lockers with the locks removed and a fence cut to get to the parking lot where the Humvees were parked, the police said. It also looked as if there had been an unsuccessful attempt to cut a lock to gain access to uniforms.
There have been several Humvee thefts from military sites in California in recent years.
In November 2023, four months after a Humvee was stolen from the National Guard Armory in Santa Rosa, the police recovered the vehicle after a chase, the California Highway Patrol said. Officers used spike strips to deflate the tires of the Humvee, and the driver was arrested.
In 2022, a man was arrested after he led officers on a chase while driving a Humvee stolen from Naval Amphibious Base Coronado near San Diego. A Humvee stolen in January 2021 from the National Guard Armory in Bell, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, was found five days later in Los Angeles County.
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