By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A pickup stolen from a north Salina business early Thursday was located in Ottawa County later in the day despite the thief's efforts to disable the vehicle communication system.
Officers were sent to L&S Electric, 1051 W. Diamond Drive, for the report of a stolen white Chevrolet Silverado 3500 pickup. Surveillance showed a person dressed in all dark clothing approach the pickup at 3:15 a.m. and drive off in it a short while later, Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning.
The pickup was valued at $65,000-$70,000, he said.
The pickup had an OnStar subscription service and the company reported to police that it had located the pickup at the Ottawa State Fishing Lake near Bennington. At approximately 10:30 a.m. Thursday, an Ottawa County Sheriff's deputy located the pickup at the lake, Forrester said. It was unoccupied.
Forrester said that approximately $1,800 worth of tools, mostly DeWalt power tools, were missing from the pickup.
In what was believed to be an attempt to disable OnStar, the thief had cut some wires under the dash, but only managed to disable the lights and some of the other functions of the pickup, Forrester said.
The pickup was returned to L&S Electric, he said.