A power company is missing a 60-ton crane that disappeared from a power line project site in Columbus, Ohio where it was being used to take apart steel towers. 

The 2019 Kenworth Long Boom National Crane, valued at $500,000, was stolen from behind the Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs Casino in the area of 4999 Parsons Ave. where Kent Power Co., Canal Winchester, Ohio, is taking down steel lattice towers used to carry high voltage transmission lines. 

The keys had been left in the cab, according to Sgt. Bill Duffer of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the theft. 

“The truck [on the crane] had a GPS under the dashboard that was ripped out and the license plates were removed,” says Joe Romecki, Kent Power business unit director for its midwest south line and substation operations. The theft occurred between 4 p.m. March 29 and 8 a.m. March 31, he says. 

Because driving and maneuvering the crane requires expertise, Romecki says he believes the theft was not a crime of convenience.

“Someone doesn’t just show up and steal this type of equipment,” he says. “This one was planned. Someone knew what they were doing. I hate to think it was internal.” The crane has a stick shift and requires 10-point turns in some conditions, Romecki adds.

“It is difficult to maneuver,” he says. “You have to have experience driving big assets like that.” 

Romecki says his company had already installed new power lines and is taking down the old towers for a project “that feeds the local residents and a big Google facility that is going in there.” 

The theft did not affect power for the residents or for Google, which is building a data center in the area. 

Romecki says the crane is used in picking steel sections and placing them safely on the ground. “This will delay us in getting the demolition [of the lattice towers] done,” he says. 

Duffer says construction theft is a common problem but usually not of this magnitude. 

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, we’ve had a couple semis stolen, but never a crane,” he says. “It’s probably been taken out of state by now where they can try to sell it or do something with it. There’s a black market for everything.” 

The company is installing a portable alarm system and a site camera on the site, not done previously because work had just started, Romecki says. 

The National Insurance Crime Bureau and National Equipment Register estimate the theft of heavy construction equipment costs between $300 million and $1 billion every year, not including the theft of tools or property damage that may occur during a theft.