BULLARD — The Bullard Police Department is asking the public for help in the investigation of a stolen antique dump truck off U.S. Highway 69 South.

According to officials, the 1964 rusty, white Chevy DMP single-axel dump truck was parked north of the Circle Feed Store on the west side of the 5200 block of Highway 69 in Cherokee County. Its license plate number is DZ4217.

Sgt. John Walker said photos of the theft were captured by a employee of the feed store next door.

“He didn't think anything about it, and he didn't call the police or anything,” Walker said. “He didn't get a license plate or anything, and (from the photos) you can't pull it up to read it. That is why I'm needing some help. Maybe someone will recognize the vehicles.”

 The department is looking for three black men and a hispanic man who are believed to be involved in the theft.

From the photos, one of the black male suspects is tall and slender, around 6-feet tall, wearing a grey mechanic-style shirt and blue jeans. Another is estimated to be around 5-feet, 8-inches tall, wearing a long polo-style shirt and dark pants, and the third is estimated to be around 5-feet,10-inches tall, wearing a dark shirt and dark pants.

No descriptions are available for the hispanic male.

According to police reports, at around 11:30 a.m. on May 30, two vehicles were seen in the area. Two black men were seen in a white early-to-mid 1990s Ford Econoline cargo van with windows. Another black man was driving a black Ford F-350 super cab pickup truck pulling a black shop-made 25-foot goose neck trailer. The black truck was pulling an orange 95XT case skid steer loader and the front cab of an old white truck on the trailer.

The three men allegedly used the orange case loader to pull the old dump truck onto the trailer and drove  toward Smith County towing the old dump truck and the old truck cab.

The suspects left the orange steer loader at the scene, and according to reports, about an hour later it was picked up by a hispanic male driving a white Dodge dually pickup pulling a black 20-foot homemade goose neck trailer. The white truck had a blue and white sticker on the upper part of the rear window on the driver's side.

“We have contacted the scrap yards in Jacksonville and Tyler, but most places won't take it without the title,” Walker said.

Anyone with information on the theft should call the Bullard Police Department at 903-894-7788.

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