From: Craig Clifton (ccclifton@sbcglobal.net)
Date: Thu Oct 20 2005 - 08:44:49 PDT
Well the DUKW I heard about has tracks and turns out to be an APC. Infor
from Bruce Beattie
Seems to be in pretty good shape, can't tell exactly what it is but looks
like a M113, woodland camo, has been well maintained. The Sheriff's
Department has it.....see below for details.....
By SALLY MORRIS
It runs good, can crash through trees, lumber over cars - even float on
water - and Trinity County supervisors are hoping someone will name a price
for the county’s only armored personnel carrier, or they will sell it for
scrap.
The military surplus, full-track, armored vehicle was a gift to Trinity
County 15 years ago from the U.S. Marshal’s office in response to an
incident that occurred in Lassen County where a sheriff’s deputy was shot by
a constitutionalist militia group in an open field and later died. Others at
the scene could not retrieve the fallen deputy before he died because they
were also being shot at. They figured if they’d only had an armored vehicle,
the man might have been saved.
As a result, the U.S. Marshal’s office gave away military personnel carriers
to a few counties including Trinity, but it has never been used here. The
Board of Supervisors last week agreed to declare the vehicle surplus and
authorize its sale.
Undersheriff David Laffranchini said the sheriff’s department feels it is
acceptable to surplus and sell the vehicle, but warned the supervisors “we
can’t find anyone in government with any record of the transfer of the
vehicle. There was no paperwork attached with it, so there’s no guarantee
there won’t be a claim on it if you sell it.”
Board Chairman Howard Freeman wondered if research aimed at clearing the
title would be “throwing good money after bad, and who buys these things
anyway? Militias? What keeps a piece of machinery like this from falling
into the wrong hands?”
Laffranchini said he doesn’t know and it was a good question, adding “there
are some background issues.” He said he would attempt to contact other
counties that may have also received vehicles like Trinity’s to ascertain
whether any others came with documentation. He noted the vehicle does have a
vehicle identification number.
“It must be heavy — if no one wants to buy it, we should sell it for scrap,”
said Supervisor Roger Jaegel.
Supervisor Wendy Reiss said there are military vehicle collectors “who might
surprise you and offer more than we’d ever expect.” She added that she
appreciates the concerns about not having clear title to the vehicle and she
would like the undersheriff to find out “if there are others out there. I
would not like to see us run over by this.”
Jaegel said he would be OK with that as long as the investigation takes no
more than an hour of the undersheriff’s time, and he included that direction
in the motion he made to declare the vehicle surplus and offer it for sale.
The motion carried by unanimous vote.
The estimated value is $10,000. Laffranchini said the vehicle had a new
engine when it came here and has been maintained by the county
transportation department. Top speed is about 30 miles per hour, and the
operator’s manual says it will travel six miles an hour on water, “but I’ve
never tried that,” Laffranchini said.
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