Sheriff’s department investigating crime in Pokagon Township 

Detectives with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a high-value lumber theft that occurred on the outskirts of Dowagiac last week.

Authorities are currently looking for information about the theft of two cedar trees from a forest owned by Pike Lumber Company, located in Pokagon Township west of Dewey Street.

The theft is estimated to have taken place between Monday, Dec. 8 and Thursday, Dec. 11, the period between which employees last noticed the trees and first reported them stolen, said Undersheriff Richard Behnke.

One of the two trees had already been felled before it was taken, with the only having believed to have been knocked down by a Caterpillar front loader vehicle that was found on the scene with its one of its windows smashed in.

“It seems that would have to be multiple suspects involved due to the size of the trees, but with the type of equipment used out there it may have been possible for one person to pull off this theft,” Behnke said.

While authorities are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the theft, they believe that it most likely occurred during the evening hours and that the person or people involved had prior knowledge on how to operate the machinery located at the scene.

“Only house is in view of the property, so it makes this kind of activity easy to conceal,” Behnke said.

The lumber company, based out of Indiana, estimates that the stolen lumber costs between $7,000 and $10,000, the undersheriff said.

The sheriff’s office has spent the last several days checking with local mills within the Cass and Berrien county areas to see if they had received any lumber like those stolen for processing, but detectives have thus far been unable to track them down.

Anyone with information about the stolen trees is encouraged to contact the sheriff’s office at (269) 445-2481 or at their anonymous tip line, at (800) 462-9328.