(New Buffalo, MI) - The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a rash of products being stolen from semi-trailers broken into while the drivers are in their cabs sleeping beside a stretch of Interstate 94.

 

Lt. Thad Chartrand said there have been at least four such thefts reported to the sheriff’s office over the past two weeks at the Michigan Welcome Center outside New Buffalo.  One of the cases involved the theft of about $20,000 in various Lego kits.

 

He said it likely took multiple people working quietly to avoid waking up the drivers because of the effort involved in removing and loading products into other vehicles as quickly as possible.   

 

“To have been able to unload that many kits, there must have been more than one person involved,” he said.

 

Chartrand also said there’s strong evidence that more trailers were entered but those suspected incidents, for whatever reason, have not been reported. He said cargo thefts have been a problem elsewhere but it’s happened on a much smaller scale in this area until recently.

 

“It seems to be hitting us all of a sudden,” he said.

 

In each of the cases, police said the metal seals on the trailer doors were cut to allow the locked doors to open.  Once the doors are opened, the suspects are able to find out what’s inside and decide if the contents are something they want to take.

 

In one case, Chartrand said the driver told officers he felt his truck moving but stayed in the cab feeling it was from a rain storm packing strong winds during the heist.

 

“Unfortunately, it was from people in the back of his truck,” he said.

 

According to police, taken from another trailer attached to a parked semi was an undisclosed number of packages containing large beef tenderloins. Chartrand said each package weighing 20 pounds were on their way to Canada to be cut into steaks.

 

The two other trailers contained merchandise from Walmart ordered online and Coca Cola products.

 

Investigators are waiting for the Michigan Department of Transportation to deliver surveillance camera video from the Welcome Center.  Chartrand said the hope is to obtain leads if the video contains any images of the crimes being committed.

 

The Welcome Center is being monitored more closely now in hopes of discouraging any more future thefts or catching perpetrators should they strike again.

 

“Our guys have been really diligent and spending a lot of time out there,” he said.  In some cases, the drivers were not aware of the thefts until they arrived at their destinations and opened the trailers.