We've just had an incident today here at the Ranch. Gate was open because we had some ladies coming to tour the facilities. While we are at one of the lodges, we get a call from a guy that is down at our entrance. He says that he just chased some guy who ended up going onto our property. He claims the guy is stalking someone, has no drivers license, not registration or insurance on his vehicle. I drove the property twice without seeing the vehicle that was described. So, I went back up to a "back trail" that is about as wide as an ATV. I couldn't see any tracks to start with, but went on up a bit further and found tracks. Went just far enough further to see a car the right color through the trees. So, I backed back down and waited for the Sheriff's department. One sergeant and the undersheriff showed up and went up the trail. Pretty soon, two more deputies arrived on the Ranch.
All in all, we aren't sure that the story that the caller gave is even true. The car is still up there and the driver has gone to ground. He may or may not be back to get his car and leave with it. At any rate, the car is on BLM land, so we can't even call a wrecker to come and have it removed. I'm not even sure a wrecker could get to the car. I think that the best that could be done by the BLM is to call a locksmith to unlock the steering wheel and the ignition to let it be started so they could back it out.
We were impressed with the speed of reaction of the officers and their professionalism. And, I'm even more anxious to get the "hey" out of here.
Side note: I was and will be going around with a .45 on my hip the rest of the day.
Another side note: This even follows another incident where a couple of tweakers came on the property, stole a gate wheel off of our service entrance gate, broke into our neighbor volunteer's SUV and tried to break into their RV. They left in a hurry when met at the door of the RV with shotgun in hand.
And, before that by a few months, someone came on the property and tried to steal a trailer like those that landscaping companies have. You know, the ones with the expanded metal cage on the front. They got hooked up to it, but what they didn't know was that it was loaded with old asphalt roofing shingles. Their vehicle wasn't "horse enough" to get it untracked, and all they did was spin their rear wheels. So, those would-be thieves just unhooked and got the heck out of Dodge.
All in all, we aren't sure that the story that the caller gave is even true. The car is still up there and the driver has gone to ground. He may or may not be back to get his car and leave with it. At any rate, the car is on BLM land, so we can't even call a wrecker to come and have it removed. I'm not even sure a wrecker could get to the car. I think that the best that could be done by the BLM is to call a locksmith to unlock the steering wheel and the ignition to let it be started so they could back it out.
We were impressed with the speed of reaction of the officers and their professionalism. And, I'm even more anxious to get the "hey" out of here.
Side note: I was and will be going around with a .45 on my hip the rest of the day.
Another side note: This even follows another incident where a couple of tweakers came on the property, stole a gate wheel off of our service entrance gate, broke into our neighbor volunteer's SUV and tried to break into their RV. They left in a hurry when met at the door of the RV with shotgun in hand.
And, before that by a few months, someone came on the property and tried to steal a trailer like those that landscaping companies have. You know, the ones with the expanded metal cage on the front. They got hooked up to it, but what they didn't know was that it was loaded with old asphalt roofing shingles. Their vehicle wasn't "horse enough" to get it untracked, and all they did was spin their rear wheels. So, those would-be thieves just unhooked and got the heck out of Dodge.
