Tractors stolen from port turn up in Elk

Foreign rigs often top the list of vehicles favored by thieves. But it’s not often that the vehicles in question are best suited for plowing or grading.

Someone hauled away a cargo container holding 13 Japanese tractors from a port in Sacramento, Calif., in May. And police say a Spokane County couple arrested Wednesday had two of the tractors at their home.

Kenneth Hodson, 44, and Ann Rivera, 42, were each charged with possession of stolen property after Washington State Patrol detectives searched their property at 5615 E. Oregon Road in Elk.

They were also charged with two counts each of possession of a controlled substance for methamphetamine and marijuana, said WSP Trooper Jim Hayes. Rivera’s 11-year-old daughter, who lives at the Elk home, was taken into protective custody.

The WSP went to the Elk home Monday to assist in the California Highway Patrol’s investigation of the theft in Sacramento, Hayes said. Two tractors could be seen behind the home from the road. Washington detectives obtained a search warrant based on that, he said.

Hodson was doing yard work when the convoy of detectives arrived Wednesday. He was immediately handcuffed and put in the back seat of a patrol car.

Rivera was in a back bedroom of the mobile home. She was escorted out of the home in her flannel pajamas while detectives searched the house.

A blue-and-white Mitsubishi MT3201 and Yanmar YM1510 valued at between $3,000 and $9,000 each, as well as two computers, were seized by detectives, Hayes said. Police were checking through a list of about 25 other items to determine if they were stolen.

Hodson and Rivera recently moved to Elk from Wilton, Calif., Hayes said. One of the stolen tractors was also found at Hodson’s previous home, according to police.