CLOVIS, Calif. (KMPH) -
A Madera County car dealer plays detective and it pays big dividends. A late model Dodge pickup was stolen from Larry Shaw's Madera County car lot in April. Friday it was spotted at a home in Clovis and Shaw was determined to use his truck to block the stolen vehicle in the driveway until police arrived.
The Dodge pickup has been spotted numerous times in Fresno and Clovis over the past two months. Larry Shaw parked near the house and then he dialed 9–1–1. "I told them I found a stolen vehicle, gave them the police report number and the VIN number and said they needed to come over as fast as they could."
Shaw was ready to pounce if the pickup left the driveway. That's because this is the second time this year he has been hit by car thieves on his Madera County lot. When he spotted his stolen pickup in Clovis he decided enough was enough. "When you have to go to work everyday and you work hard and someone takes a car this is worth 7–thousand dollars. I mean that's my time away from my family to earn that money and I want it back."
Fortunately police arrived quickly. Clovis Police Department spokeswoman Janet Stoll-Lee strongly advises never to take matters into your own hands. "That's dangerous. That's why you call police and ask them to come out and let them do the work on this. Not you."
The man who had the keys to the Dodge told Clovis Police he got the pickup from a friend. The deal was he got the pickup for agreeing to take over the payments. Clovis Police are now trying to track down the man who let the pickup go for taking over the payments. So far there have been no arrests.
Friday afternoon Clovis Police let Larry Shaw drive the pickup back to his Madera County car lot. After a thorough cleaning it will be up for sale.
