Authorities find stolen grass fire rig on Lancaster County property, deputy says

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Deputies found a stolen firetruck in rural Lancaster County on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office says.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office learned that a stolen grass fire rig was possibly on a property near Bennet.

The rig was reported stolen from the Burchard Volunteer Fire Department in Pawnee County on June 23.

A Nebraska State Patrol helicopter flew over the property, and troopers found the rig, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said.

Investigators spoke with the property owner and verified that the vehicle was the stolen rig.

Deputies also recovered the rig’s lightbar, a chainsaw, a leaf blower, radios, fire masks and hose nozzles.

The suspect, a transient from Omaha, was already in the custody of the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office.

Shelby Watkins, 25, was arrested in January on suspicion of burglary and theft.

Houchin is unsure how the grass fire rig ended up near Bennet.

He also said deputies can’t prove whether Watkins and the property owner knew each other.

An investigation is ongoing.