SIMI VALLEY : Authorities Recover Stolen Truck Rigs

The last two of five tractor-trailer rigs that were stolen from a Simi Valley trucking terminal and emptied of much of their cargo have been recovered, a spokesman for the trucking company said Wednesday.

All five of the rigs will be put back into service today, the spokesman said.

However, police have no suspects in the Sunday heist, in which thieves took most of an estimated $1 million worth of cargo, Simi Valley Police Sgt. Robert Gardner said. Taken from CF MotorFreight were thousands of pairs of Bugle Boy jeans, glassware, cameras and other electronic items and household goods that were awaiting shipment to stores.

The last two rigs to be recovered were found Tuesday morning on a street in El Sereno near East Los Angeles, Gardner said.

The other three were found Sunday and Monday in the Los Angeles County communities of Lynwood and Vernon and along the San Diego Freeway in Orange County.

Gary Frantz, the trucking company spokesman, said the ignition systems on the trucks were damaged when thieves hot-wired them.

All of the trailers and four tractors belonged to CF MotorFreight. The fifth tractor is owned by the Simi Valley Recycling Center.

Gardner said the thieves broke into the fenced lot by cutting through a chain lock.

One of the trailers was about three-fourths full when it was found. Gardner said police had not inventoried the recovered items. The other four trailers were empty.

He said the FBI is assisting the investigation.

“There is a major, major cargo theft operation in the California area,” Gardner said. “It’s all related.”

CF MotorFreight is a subsidiary of Consolidated Freightways Inc. of Palo Alto. It is one of the nation’s largest long-haul trucking companies. The Simi Valley terminal is one of 700 that CF MotorFreight maintains in North America.