A Ripon man believed to be behind a number of trailer thefts over the last several years won’t be stealing any trailers anytime soon. 

Cornelius Peter DeJong, 31, pled no contest to auto theft and three counts of possession of a stolen vehicle last month after he was arrested by the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force in late 2017. DeJong was caught in possession of a flatbed trailer valued at $3,800, and investigators had connected him to trailer thefts in both San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. 

Earlier this month a Stanislaus County judge sentenced DeJong to 365 days in the Stanislaus County Jail and placed him on formal felony probation and ordered him to pay restitution to his victims. 

The theft of trailers and small agricultural equipment has been an ongoing issue for rural property owners in both Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties, and such crimes are getting a renewed focus – particularly in San Joaquin County where new Sheriff Pat Withrow has reassigned a number of deputies to the agricultural crimes task force to prevent such spikes from occurring. 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544