The tailgate party is over as police make arrests in truck parts thefts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/arrests-reported-in-maryland-tailgate-thefts/2017/05/23/678cdcf6-3f65-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html

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The theft of tailgates from pickup trucks would seem a specialized sort of crime.

Earlier this year, 13 of the gates were reported stolen at various places in Frederick County, Md., and on Monday, the sheriff’s office announced that two suspects had been taken into custody in connection with the thefts.

The tailgates were sold on the Eastern Shore, the sheriff’s office said.

Published discussions of tailgate thievery note that the items can often cost $1,000 or more to replace. On the Cars.com website, it was reported that a thriving underground market existed for vehicle parts.

What also makes tailgates targets for pilferage, specialists say, is that few carry serial numbers or other identifying marks. In addition, some are fitted with sophisticated equipment, such as backup cameras.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) said last year that an underground market has grown to meet a demand for items that can be obtained at small fractions of their true costs.

“Many of these tailgates end up on similar vehicles,” the bureau said, while others are sold for scrap.

In 2015, according to the NICB, the number of claims filed for tailgate theft declined from the previous year. The 2015 figure was 1,787, which is 108 below the 2014 figure.

But both claims were much higher than in any of the four years before 2014, and they were far higher than the 2010 figure of 430, the NICB said.

At the time the thefts were reported in Frederick County, the sheriff’s office said other Maryland jurisdictions, east of Frederick, also were experiencing similar losses.

The sheriff’s office identified the suspects as Brandon Lee Blucher of Glenwood, Md., and Riley Allen Eppley of Monrovia, Md.

It said warrants were issued charging them with 12 counts of theft over $1,000.

Blucher was taken into custody in Monrovia and released, the sheriff’s office said. Eppley was arrested in Kenosha, Wis., and an effort is underway to extradite him to Maryland, the sheriff’s office said.