On the morning of June 2, 2018, an officer with the California Highway Patrol made a traffic stop on a black Chevrolet pickup truck at Walnut and Annadale Avenues in Fresno.
The officer recognized the truck from a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office press released publicized the previous day on social media and the local news. He knew the vehicle and driver were possibly linked to a recent theft of hay bales. The officer detained the driver, 44 year old Jeff Fyfe of Kerman and requested a sheriff’s deputy to the scene to continue the investigation. The officer and deputy matched several distinguishing features of the truck to ones shown in the pictures posted online. Although Fyfe looked different (clean shaven) from surveillance photos captured at the ranch, Fyfe admitted that he had stolen hay bales in the area. Officers found Fyfe to be in possession of heroin and a needle. The deputy arrested Fyfe on misdemeanor charges of petty theft, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the Fresno County Jail and was released later in the day after posting bond.
This investigation began as a farmer with a ranch near Kearney Park in Fresno recently noticed bales of hay slowing disappearing from his large stack. To try and combat the problem, the farmer setup trail cameras on his property to get a visual of the thief. On May 29, 2018, the farmer checked his cameras and found images of a man stealing bales of alfalfa. He reported the theft to the Sheriff’s Ag Task Force, which took a report and released the surveillance photos to the public asking for help.
