Security-police officers work together to recover stolen FEMA trailer
REDDING, Calif. January 1 2019 – Redding police say two men stole FEMA trailers meant to house Camp Fire survivors. Officers got a call just before 7:00 a.m. on Friday about a travel trailer theft at the Reddingwood Mobile Home Park.
Police say 58-year-old Wayne Bergman and 40-year-old Zachary Crouchley stole the trailers, and they were arrested on Saturday.
One trailer was found in Millville on Old Highway 44. It was observed from the air by the California Highway Patrol Operations Unit. They saw the stolen trailer being towed by a white Chevy SUV.
Officers retrieved the new $30,000 Forrest Rivers brand trailer from a home in the Millville area on Old Highway 44. FEMA security personnel were also at the scene and coordinated efforts with Redding Police and the Highway Patrol.
Officers identified 58-year-old Wayne Jerome Bergman of Bella Vista as the driver of the SUV. Redding police say Bergman admitted that he took the trailer from the RV park. Two additional men who were located at the residence had warrants for their arrest, but officers determined they were not involved in the theft of the FEMA trailer.
The second FEMA trailer was located in Bella Vista at a residence on Albatross Way. The homeowner identified Wayne Bergman as his brother and said the trailer showed up at his residence sometime during the morning hours.
While officers were at the Bella Vista home, they observed a suspicious truck closeby. They thought the truck might have arrived to pick up the stolen trailer, so they contacted the occupants of the truck. The driver was Zachary Crouchley, a resident of Bella Vista. He was on probation for possession of an illegal weapon. The truck he was driven had been stolen in Tulare County.
Bergman was booked for the initial theft and possession of a stolen vehicle. Crouchley was booked for possession of a stolen vehicle and violating the terms of his probation.
