BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The case of the stolen American flags is half solved.
The trailer that contained the flags — 1,000 of them — has been returned to its rightful owner, the Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Foundation.
But the flags themselves are still missing, along with 1,000 flagpoles, lighting and other items. These are the flags that wave at the Park at Riverwalk every Memorial Day weekend. But they disappeared last week after the trailer, a white 1986 Wells Cargo, was stolen from a lot on Belle Terrace, north of West High School. Estimated value, $15,000.
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The trailer was recovered when an unidentified person — an “unsuspecting” purchaser of the trailer, the Sheriff’s Office confirms — tried to register it at the DMV. The VIN number pinged as “stolen.”
DMV notified Bakersfield police, and the trailer was recovered — empty. It had been re-painted, plates and logos removed.
The Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary Foundation is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the flags’ recovery.
Breakfast Rotary Club representative Denise Haynes, who was storing the trailer on her father’s property, said the Thousand Flags event will go on this Memorial Day, whether the original flags are recovered or not.
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“I told BPD, I said, I’m thrilled to have the trailer back but I would prefer the flags,” she said. “They’re the heart and soul of the event. I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. The trailer is wonderful. When it gets filled up again it’ll be useful, but man … miss our flags.”
A local business, JNC Welding & Fabrication, is in the process of repairing the damaged fence — at no charge — on the property where the trailer was stored.