(KTXL) — A precious family heirloom and valuable work tools were returned to their rightful owner in Sacramento County with the help of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s gang task force.
“I own an automotive repair shop, so the tools are my livelihood,” Ron Corbett, owner of Wrench Rat Automotive, said. “But you know the gun in the box — you can’t replace sentimental value. So, that’s why that was the biggest heartbreak for me.”
The gun is a World War II rifle Corbett believes his father-in-law used in reenactments.
Out of the blue, Corbett said he was caught by surprise when he got a call from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office saying his trailer was broken into, and they had recovered his stuff.
“Literally on an airplane, I got a call from the detective and he said, ‘Hey, we have a rifle here in a shadow box. You know, I think it’s yours,’” Corbett recalled. “Again, I can’t commend these guys for what they do and thank them enough for getting this back.”
Corbett said he estimates the total cost of his belongings to be around $2,000, but the lead detective on the case, Anthony Herrera, said his team recovered about $30,000 worth of stolen goods in this one takedown, which he believes will lead to more.
“California driver’s licenses, IDs, credit cards, checks … bikes, tools, a lot of this stuff we’re still trying to trace back where it goes to, but we actually connected the other items to about 11 other burglaries,” Herrera said.
They also recovered an Air Force medal and are still searching for the rightful owner of it and other recovered items.
The sheriff’s office said two men were allegedly responsible for the burglaries.
The suspects were identified as Richard Boyd and Richard Highley, and it’s not their first time being caught for these types of crimes, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Both convicted felons,” Herrera said. “One of them is on active parole for burglary.”
As for Corbett, he’s glad to have his stuff back and thankful for the sheriff’s detectives for their work. But for now, he says it’s back to business.
“I got to fix it and clean it up a little because as you can see it kind of got banged around and broken. I’m going to take this and fix it up and hang it back on the wall and go back to work,” Corbett said.
A handful of stolen guns were also recovered as a result of the search warrant. The suspects now face about a dozen burglary charges and violations.
