Excerpts from The Courier. Read the whole story here.
By Jamie Nash
Updated: 10.02.08
EAST COUNTY – More than $500,000 in Harley-Davidson motorcycles and parts were recovered Wednesday morning when law enforcement raided a Grangerland-area home and arrested a man for allegedly stealing the bikes and selling the parts on eBay.
Jody Floyd Mathes, 50, was arrested and charged with first-degree felony theft and a felony drug charge after multiple law enforcement agencies converged on his residence off FM 3083 and found the Harley-Davidson motorcycles and parts, along with 5 grams of methamphetamine and a .357 Magnum handgun, officials said.
Officers seized Mathes’ computer, printer and fax machine for further investigation, Womack said.
Mathes had been running a profitable eBay business selling the motorcycle parts and trafficking narcotics, police said.
Mathes was on parole for another conviction involving drugs, according to a search of public records and officers on scene.
“We found 13 complete Harleys that run an average of $20,000 each, six additional stripped bike frames and 30 motors and transmissions that didn’t go with any bike on scene,” Moore said.
The value of the recovered parts is an estimated $300,000, he said.
Officers also recovered a golf cart and a four-wheeler.
Moore said there was evidence of approximately 50 Harleys and one other motorcycle at the residence.
Officers located license plates from bikes stolen in Montgomery County, Harris County, Bandera, Boerne and the state of Oklahoma, he said.
Officials say the number of bikes stolen in the county over the past year have dramatically risen, from an average of about 15 to 58 last year – 48 of them were Harleys.
An auto theft officer on the scene said some bike owners called their office in tears when they reported their bikes were stolen.
“For a lot of people, it’s not what they drive, it’s who they are,” he said.Add to Technorati Favorites
is there any way to find out if my stolen motorcycle was in that bunch?
ReplyDeleteMontgomery County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Division
ReplyDeleteSuggest contacting the folk above if you have things like frame numbers, etc.
My understanding was the bikers were parted out sot hey will need numbers.
Wouldn't hold out much luck for a bike return. If you had theft insurance maybe helpful.
Anyone owning a bike should have theft insurance. Especially if it is a Harley