SOUTH SALT LAKE – It may take a few days for investigators to sift through the hundreds of stolen items that were reportedly found in a South Salt Lake man’s yard. Officers are sifting through what they’re calling the largest stash of stolen items they’ve ever seen.
The goods appear to have been stolen from as far north as Davis County and as far south as Utah County. One had been taken from Coalville. Michelle Odette had a trailer stolen from Saint George, and checked to see if her items somehow made it to South Salt Lake. “I’m hopeful. I’m not banking on it, but, I’m hopeful,” she says.
The front and back yards of the home where they were found are covered with items, and police are sorting out which ones are stolen and which aren’t. Looking over the mess, Odette couldn’t help but get angry. She says, “I’m amazed. If I was a neighbor, I would be mad at all this. I would be livid living next to this junkyard.”
Investigators say Anthony Cantrell’s neighbors may have believed he was legitimately collecting junk to trade. However, Officer Gary Keller says Cantrell was busily looking for trailers to steal. “It looks like he targeted things he could back up to, hook on and tow away. Quick in, quick out,” Keller says.
So far, they’ve been able to the owners of 14 out of the 16 stolen trailers. Some of the VIN numbers had been destroyed. Keller says this is why it’s so important for people to know the serial numbers of their valuables. “If we have a picture of the item and a serial number that could go on NCIC, which is the National Crime Information Computer system, then, it stays on there. If it shows up five or ten years down the road, [we know], ‘Hey, that was stolen from this person.’”
Keller says Cantrell may have been busted after he ran out of room to park stolen trailers. The first trailer they found was spotted because it was illegally parked on the road.
Cantrell was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of 10 counts of theft by receiving stolen property and four counts of transferring stolen property.