Lazer Formula Vee project stolen in South Florida

[gbmetcalf]

Ok everybody I need your eyes open and your ears to the ground.
The Lazer project and the trailer it was in was stolen 2 nights ago. Barret is calling all the scrap yards in south Florida to keep the welding jigs from being recycled. If you see or hear of a enclosed trailer with fiberglass molds and welding jigs for sale in south Florida let the police and Barret Hendricks know.

G.

[dc]

OH NO!

Keep us posted on anything that happens!

[fvkartguy]

Thanks for posting. I was just getting on to do the same.
I was excited to be a part of the Lazer's long history but not like this.
I called every single scrap metal facility in south Florida this morning and sent emails with pictures to about 30 places.

[Brett Lane]

Bummer- Where in Ft. Lauderdale was it stolen?

I am sure you are aware of it, but there are a couple of relatively unknown yards on West 31st Ave. North of Sunrise Blvd. Did you contact them as well?

[BURKY]

There are two scrap yards in delray just north of ft laurderdale.
Both are on. Sw 10 street. Good luck.

[fvkartguy]

I called International Global Metals on NW 31st Ave just north of Sunrise and a couple just off of SW 10th St in Del Ray, but not ON 10th.
I've also been constantly searching "trailer" on Craigslist, but haven't seen anything yet.

Good news though:
I've been working closely with the detective and, after watching videos from three different surveillance systems, we got some very good pictures of the thieves and their getaway van. Unfortunately, their license plate was not shown in the videos.
BUT there is only one road leading out of the area, which is being watched by a traffic camera. So now that the detective knows the exact time (9:30am!), he's going to look at the traffic video and see if he can get the plate number.

There's a chance the guys are already behind bars tonight, but if not I'm going to try to post pictures of the suspects on this thread in the morning.
Either way, I haven't seen the trailer and Lazer project yet, so I still won't be sleeping tonight. But it's good to know we're at least a little closer.

[gbmetcalf]

Good news. Lets hope the jerks didn't destroy anything!

[fvkartguy]

Alright guys, it makes me sick seeing my trailer hooked up to this van and these scumbags are still on the loose, so keep your eyes open:

At approximately 9:30am on 5/19/13, a tan colored 7x14 double-axle v-nose trailer was stolen by two white (possibly Hispanic) males driving a white van.

The van appears to be a mid 90’s to early 2000 Ford Econoline with sliding passenger side door, steel wheels, black bumpers (front and rear), a black grill, a SunPass on the front windshield, and a white Apple© sticker on the driver side mirror.

The trailer has a side door, ramp rear door, and the silver wheels shown in the attached picture. The interior is wooden with a rubber “coin” flooring and e-track on the side and front walls; two rectangular lights, a circular light, and a vent on the ceiling; electrical outlet; breakaway battery in the front; and four d-rings on the floor.

The trailer stolen contained mostly thick, unpainted steel jigs (some with white paint writing) but also several nickel-plated rods, a chromoly chassis, and spare chromoly components. There were also several large fiberglass molds, car body pieces, and tie downs in the trailer.

If you have any information, please contact Detective Hernandez at (954)202-3121.

Thank you.

[tlandon]

I live in Ft. Lauderdale as well. My brother Mike runs FV up in Indy. I will keep an eye out for the van and trailer. My property was just robbed last week as well. Took power tools out of storage boxes.
Too many scum bags around this area!

[rave motorsports]

We are traveling from Kansas to Steve Everards in Michigan to pick up the Jacer. We will be on the look-out too. Stuff like this is exactly why I moved back to Kansas from Vegas.

[fvkartguy]

The video is going on the news tonight and there is now a $1000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Keep your eyes open!

[gbmetcalf]

Any news????

[fvkartguy]

Nothing yet.
I really thought someone would call in response to the news reports or articles.
I posted ads in every Craigslist in Florida and the surrounding states and I'm going to check local flea markets.
I at least have the designs and paperwork. So maybe this would be an opportunity to make any slight redesigns before rebuilding the jigs and molds.

[Earley Motorsports]

Do you have a license plate number for the trailer? That might help identify it from behind. Good luck.
Graham.

[cory mcleod]

Sorry about the trailer. The only time I've ever carried theft insurance on my trailer and race car was when I lived in South FL. It's beautiful there, but like a third world country in many ways.

What type of lock(s) did you have on your trailer? Would be helpful to know what lock(s) are not dirty-rotten-thief-proof.

Good luck getting everything back! Hopefully, justice will prevail.

Thanks, Cory

[Daryl DeArman]

What type of lock(s) did you have on your trailer? Would be helpful to know what lock(s) are not dirty-rotten-thief-proof.

No such thing as a dirty-rotten-thief-proof lock. All you are trying to do is make the trailer next to yours more appealing to the thief.

[Steve Demeter]

One of Lyle's alarms would have helped.

I still maintain that rigging a shotgun to the door or a fence charger to the trailer frame works best of all.

[logager]

One of Lyle's alarms would have helped.

I still maintain that rigging a shotgun to the door or a fence charger to the trailer frame works best of all.

Thanks Steve.

12 gauge trip wires are pretty cool. I do sell a bunch at trade shows in DEEP south Texas.


Lyle

[racerdad2]

Sorry for your loss. My nickname at our local track is 'the Locksmith'. Guys are regularly forgetting their trailer keys, so track management sends them to my pits. I keep a large set of bolt cutters in my truck. She never fails to unlock a trailer. Personally, I keep several locks on my trailers. Tongue, wheels, inner door, just to slow them down. I will look into the trailer alarms...

Sincerely hope you recover your trailer & contents....

[fvkartguy]

The trailer HAD Texas license plate 02409K, but I'm sure whoever took it removed the license plate and VIN plate.
I had three big towing chains around the wheels and leaf springs and a hitch lock, but they were able to cut the chains and might have had a really long hitch so that they didn't even have to bother with the hitch lock.
If I get the trailer back, I plan to take all possible precautions such as AT LEAST one wheel lock (like the boots they use for parking violations), calling the police and putting a "watch" on the trailer (they drive by each night and make sure it's there), install a lojack system, maybe chain the axle to the ground out of sight, take off a wheel when it's going to be parked for a while, etc etc etc
I would suggest anyone with a trailer take some of these actions. Do as much as you think is necessary, then quadruple it. It shouldn't just slow down the thieves. They should be able to work on it for days without making any progress AND THEN if they try to drive off with it the police should automatically be informed immediately.

[Earley Motorsports]

I have heard of also putting an old cell phone in the ceiling plugged into a charger hidden in there somewhere. That way they can ping the phone for quite a while until the battery dies. Sounds logical.
Graham.