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As the snow falls, the theft of plows rise in Boston

by Amy Judd | February 3, 2009 at 12:51 pm

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With all the recent snowfall in Boston, it appears that the theft of snowplows has risen as people turn to that to try and make a bit of extra money.

This is common in many states that have had lots of snow, as authorities suspect that people who have lost their jobs are trying to make extra money clearing snow, and therefore, there are more around to steal.

“There’s a lot of people out of work,” said Maj. Ralph Bubar III of the Johnston, R.I., Police Department, which has investigated five plow thefts this winter. “Snowplowing is a nice, easy way to make money off the books. The thefts started early October and got progressively worse as the snowstorms started.”

The problem is most acute in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In Rhode Island, there have been at least 20 reports of stolen plows this winter, said Michael Carpenter, an agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit industry group devoted to fighting auto theft and insurance fraud.

It seems many thieves are taking the trucks with a plow attached and then are taking the plow and dumping the truck.
The average cost of a plow blade is $5,000 to $7,000 and they are hard to solve, due to the fact that they mostly look alike.

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