Five vehicles, 3 in Williams, stolen this week

Five vehicles were stolen this week in Colusa County – three in Williams in about a 48-hour period – a spree of thefts that have been keeping area law enforcement agencies busy.

The cars and trucks have been recovered – some wrecked – and according to the Williams and Colusa police chiefs, each vehicle taken had the keys left in the vehicle, which was also unlocked.

“These are spree thefts,” said Colusa interim police Chief Ross Stark. “They are taking them until they drop or get wrecked.”

That is in contrast to a series of thefts in Glenn County in recent months in which the vehicles were taken to a local chop shop to be cut up for parts.

Williams reported that the first of its three thefts took place sometime between 10:30 p.m. Monday and 5:30 a.m. Tuesday from the 100 block of Westgate Drive.

The 1992 Ford Explorer was recovered at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of Nicolaus Drive.

The second vehicle, a green 1994 Ford Explorer, was taken sometime after 9 p.m. Tuesday from the 700 block of Pinewood Court, and found at about 11:15 p.m. on the 700 block of Heron Way.

It had been crashed into a parked car at that location.

“In this case, the suspects fled the scene in a silver .... two-door Honda Civic,” the Williams police reported.

Two unknown subjects wearing dark hooded sweaters were reportedly seen.

That Civic, it turned out, had been stolen from Colusa. When contacted, the owners of the car had not known the car was missing.

Stark said the car was recovered in Arbuckle. It too had been wrecked.

Colusa has reports of nine stolen vehicles since July, four of those since mid-December. Additionally, four vehicles in the county area adjacent to the city – including the same truck twice – had been stolen.

The truck that had been taken twice was found OK the first time, but had been shot up with pistols or rifles when found the next time, the Colusa police reported.

Those four county cases are under the California Highway Patrol jurisdiction.

The third car stolen in Williams happened sometime after 9 p.m. Tuesday, when a purple Chrysler Voyager van was stolen from the 100 block of Westgate Drive.

The Voyager was found at 8 a.m. on Wednesday on 1200 block of Teri Drive.

The fifth vehicle stolen during the spree was in Maxwell.

The 2011 Ford F150 pickup was taken sometime late Tuesday evening. It was parked in the driveway of a home on Cosner Avenue, the CHP reported.

The truck was recovered with a flat tire on Clay Street in Colusa Thursday.

Anyone with information on any of these cases should contact local law enforcement.