A speeding all-terrain vehicle stopped by police last week has led authorities to a massive stash of stolen goods, including a $15,000 motorcycle and a $10,000 tool chest.
Around 3 p.m. Aug. 16, an Indiana State Police trooper responding to a report of an ATV speeding down county roads found the four-wheeler as it turned into a driveway along CR 350N.
After questioning the ATV’s driver, police learned it was not registered, then found it had been repainted, according to state police spokesman Sgt. Trent Smith. A records check showed the ATV had been reported stolen out of Silver Lake, Smith said.
That information led Trooper Kyle Dukes, with a search warrant, to search the property the ATV pulled into, at 8486 E. CR 350N.
Inside, Dukes found a $15,000 Ducati motorcycle reported stolen out of Fort Wayne in a shed on the property.
An arc welder and a $10,000 tool chest both reported stolen were also found elsewhere on the grounds, according to Smith.
Neither the driver nor the passenger of the stopped ATV was arrested by police.
After state police detectives pulled in the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department, the Kosciusko County Drug Task Force and the Silver Lake Police Department, authorities shifted their interest to the Leesburg property of a man jailed Aug. 16 for allegedly lifting catalytic converters from cars at a Syracuse salvage yard.
At that property - at 4037 N. CR 700E, Leesburg - officers found what Smith described as “four pickup truck loads” of presumed stolen items, as well as a spent methamphetamine lab, several handguns and long guns.
Following an interview with police at Kosciusko County Jail, the property owner - 31-year-old Cory L. Riggins - is expected to face additional felony charges. He’s currently being held on burglary and drug charges related to the salvage yard bust.
Smith said his agency believes Riggins and others are behind burglaries in Kosciusko, Fulton, Huntington, Allen and Whitley counties. Other arrests and charges are expected.
