Reports of stolen tractors in Hawaii aren’t all that unusual, but most are crimes of opportunity for thieves because the owners or operators left the machine unguarded, out in the open, or on the side of a road.
But in a bizarre incident that took place between 1 p.m. Monday and in the early hours of Tuesday, a thief or thieves pulled the wall of a workshop in Hawaiian Acres subdivision off its concrete foundation to steal at 25-year-old Massey Ferguson 1160 tractor with a front-end loader and a flail mower, which is an attachment for mowing around trees.
Alice Suncloud and her husband, Scott, used to live on the Poouli Road (Road 10) property but have moved to Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision. She added that the couple had listed for sale the 12-acre property — which was once part of a certified organic farm — but removed the listing after the tractor was stolen.
“We put it on the market three weeks ago, I believe,” Suncloud said. “So (Tuesday) morning, my husband called me and said that the tractor had been stolen. Somebody had ripped it out of the shop, ripped out the wall to get it out. Basically, what happened is the wall is still there, but it’s sitting on a concrete slab, and it was ripped out from the slab so that now, the wall is sitting on the grass.
“My husband worked so hard to put everything into where it was in a more saleable condition, because the house was getting a little older. And he had built a two-story shop, and he worked so hard. He painted the building, moved everything out and cleaned it all up. It was a really big job.”
The property was listed for sale for $579,000 prior to the listing being removed, but Suncloud said, “We really need to get it back on the market.”
The tractor was purchased new in 1997 for $27,400, Suncloud said, the equivalent of about $50,000 today. The Auctions International website shows the current high bid of $6,750 on a 1997 Massey Ferguson 1160 tractor.
“We were just going to let it go with the house when we sold the house,” Suncloud said.
The Sunclouds made a police report on the tractor and the property damage. Police spokeswoman Denise Laitinen said Thursday the case is under investigation.
“There’s a lot of property crime in Hawaiian Acres,” Alice Suncloud said. “… I think I’d just like to say that most subdivision residents would probably appreciate anything the police or justice system think they could do to help lower the crime rate for property theft here.
“Pulling out someone’s wall to remove their tractor is extreme.”
A photo taken by Alice Suncloud shows deep tire-track damage on the grass next to the wall of the workshop, suggesting a vehicle of some sort was used to dislodge the wall from its foundation.
“What the picture doesn’t show is the inside where all the mud was splattered because they were spinning their wheels. It covered all the walls where Scott had painted, up on the ceiling and everything,” she said.
Alice Suncloud said her husband is now staying on the property to prevent further damage there.
“I asked Scott how he felt,” she said. “He said he felt ‘drained’ because of all the work already on the shop and now all the work needed to replace the wall, if we can even do that. He says he’s not angry. He just wants the tractor back so he can maintain the grounds.
“I more feel angry and distressed. Angry because Scott didn’t deserve this. Distressed because our lives have been so disrupted, since Scott now has to guard an empty house that we had to withdraw from the market, and we won’t be able to sell it anytime soon.”
Anyone with information about the stolen tractor and/or the vandalized property is asked to call the police nonemergency number at 935-3311. Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.