GPS Leads Caledonia, Wauwatosa Police To Stolen Equipment in Man's Back Yard

A Caledonia man was arrested Thursday for receiving stolen property after police found  two flatbed trailers at his home, each with a mini-excavator aboard, that had been stolen from the former Roundy’s distribution center at 11500 W. Burleigh St. in Wauwatosa overnight.

Officials with the Racine County District Attorney's Office charged Jason Dahl, 29, of , with two felony counts of receiving stolen property, and a felony count of possession of marijuana.

According to a report by the Wauwatosa Police Department, a general foreman for Meade Electric Co. had reported the trailers and equipment missing when he arrived for work at 6 a.m. Thursday. Police found scrape marks on the pavement where the trailers had apparently been disconnected from two dump trucks and pivoted by hand to hook up to other vehicles. The estimated value of the items was $90,000.

When the foreman called in to his home office, he was reminded that one of the excavators had a GPS unit on board. Police checked the last recorded coordinates, an address on Wauwatosa Avenue, and found nothing. The foreman said that was where they had been working on Wednesday, and the coordinates were from that job.

However, the foreman soon called back to say that a new set of coordinates had been found, this time in the Racine area. The coordinates were pinpointed at a residence in the 7000 block of Douglas Avenue in Caledonia. A Caledonia officer was sent to the address and spotted the trailers in the back yard.

According to a report by the Caledonia Police Department, when police officers arrived at the house, they saw the two excavators from the street. However, Dahl’s wife told police she didn’t know anything about the equipment and texted her husband to come home.

When he arrived, Jason Dahl also told police he didn’t know anything about the stolen property, that he had left for work at 7:35 a.m. and hadn’t seen the excavators on his property.

Investigators told Jason they knew he was lying, but he had no response, according to the report by the Caledonia Police Department.

When police searched the property with Dahl's permission, they found an ounce of marijuana near a snake cage inside the home. Caledonia Police asked him when he last smoked marijuana and he said he had smoked earlier that morning.

Wauwatosa police officers and detectives arrived at 10:45 a.m. and got the same negative response from Dahl – he swore he had hadn't noticed two large trailers with excavators loaded on them sitting in his back yard.

Detectives scoured the equipment for evidence and then turned the trailers back over to Meade Electric crews, who had driven to Caledonia to recover the excavators and put them back to work.

Investigators with the Caledonia Police Department viewed a surveillance video from a nearby tavern, which showed the excavators being transported at 2:30 a.m. The video showed a dual-axle truck towing one of the excavators, traveling east on Six Mile Road and turning on Douglas Avenue. The video also shows a dark-colored minivan, similar to one Dahl owns, turning north in the direction of the Dahl property.

Based on his denial of having stolen the equipment but also on the fact it was found on his property, Dahl was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property.

A criminal complaint is on file, and Dahl was expected to have an initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Racine County Felony Court.