A Caterpillar 150 M motorgrader worth as much as $700,000 was stolen before dawn from a bridge construction site at Ranchero Road and Kern Road in Hesperia, and the contractor that owns it is now dangling a $5,000 reward for anyone who can help bring it back. Surveillance footage captured the massive machine rolling away westbound on Ranchero Road at around 6:02 a.m. on November 1, trailed by a white pickup truck equipped with beacon lights.
The theft was reported by VVNG, which detailed how the grader's tracking system last transmitted a signal sometime between roughly 5:57 and 6:00 a.m. that morning, according to a representative identified only as Cesar of Beador Construction. The grader was being used for construction of the bridge spanning the California Aqueduct, part of work in the area, per the outlet's reporting.
A Pickup Playing Lookout
Cesar described the white pickup that shadowed the grader as a pilot truck, the kind of escort vehicle typically used to guide oversized loads safely down the road, not to help steal one. He said he hopes additional surveillance footage from the area will surface and help investigators pin down the truck's license plate.
Beador Construction is asking residents and businesses along Ranchero Road to check any surveillance cameras that may have recorded footage between 6:00 and 6:10 a.m. on November 1, in hopes that another angle might capture the truck or grader more clearly. The grader itself carries several identifying marks that could help someone spot it: green Beador company-name stickers, red state stickers, an equipment number, and an American flag.
Reward and Anonymous Tip Line
Anyone with information is asked to contact Cesar at 951-380-4350 or Lisa Perry at 951-232-1156, and Cesar said tipsters can remain anonymous. The $5,000 reward is specifically for information that leads to recovery of the motorgrader, a sum the company hopes will loosen some lips in a region that has already seen a run of rural property crime this year.
San Bernardino County authorities recorded 294 thefts involving train cargo and other rural properties between January and July of 2026 alone, with reported losses topping $16.8 million, according to a separate VVNG report. The county's Rural Crimes Task Force and patrol stations have recovered more than $15.6 million in stolen property this year, and investigators had made 85 arrests tied to rural crime and illegal animal fighting investigations as of September 1.
Equipment Theft a Recurring Headache Nationwide
Heavy equipment theft isn't unique to the High Desert. In Shreveport, Louisiana, a Caterpillar skid steer was hauled away from a construction site on West 70th Street between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. on a Sunday night in January, with surveillance footage showing a large pickup towing a flatbed trailer last seen heading toward West Bert Kouns Industrial Loop, according to KTAL News. That outlet noted skid steers like the one taken can range from $20,000 used to upwards of $80,000 new.
In Indiana, investigators uncovered a sprawling multi-state theft ring moving stolen construction equipment, trucks and trailers across state lines, with recovered machinery in Putnam County alone valued at more than $500,000, Equipment World reported. Investigators there said some of the recovered gear had been stolen from other Indiana counties as well as Illinois and Missouri, underscoring how lucrative and mobile this type of crime can be for whoever pulls it off.
Back in Hesperia, Beador Construction is counting on the reward, the surveillance footage, and anyone willing to make an anonymous call to help recover a piece of equipment that was being used for bridge work over the California Aqueduct.
