Police: Truck tailgates stolen, resold online

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Thieves are targeting pickup truck tailgates in one Cypress neighborhood near 290 and Huffmeister.

"I've seen at least 10 trucks coming through the neighborhood without tailgates," said Clayton Kemp. "People see me with no tailgate and they'll be like, 'Hey (did) you get your tailgate stolen, too? I'm like, yup. And, the police officer said it's been happening a lot."

The most commonly stolen tailgates are coming off of Ford F250s and F350s.

"Especially the ones with backup cameras in them," said Lt. Wayne Schultz, from Harris County Pct 4 Constable's Office.

The tailgates range from $1,000 to $2,500 and are resold for nearly as much.

"They're almost paying market price or retail price for them when they buy them on Craigslist because it's such a popular item."

In a recent case, one man found his stolen tailgate on Craigslist, acted like a buyer and demanded it back from the crook.

"I went on Craigslist everyday for a month and a half to try to find it because I figured that's what they would do," said Kemp, who never found his stolen tailgate.

Neither did Ted Bosserman. But, officers are onto this kind of scam.

"A gentleman was calling himself Mr. Tailgate," said Lt. Schultz. "He was going on Craigslist, luring people to his home where he had a bunch of tailgates. We ended up catching that gentleman and recovering over 40 tailgates in his garage."

Officers recommend parking in well lit areas, backing into your driveway if your truck is too big for your garage and putting screws in your tailgate to lock it down.