Deputies arrest two with boom stolen from construction crane

NEAR BARSTOW — Deputies arrested two men they found driving down Interstate 40 with a construction boom in tow suspected to be stolen Thursday.

William Nash, 54, and Robert Worley, 49, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft and possession of stolen property after deputies saw them driving west on the interstate toward Barstow in a pickup truck, towing the disassembled boom in a trailer at about 11 a.m., said Cpl. Bill Doemner.

Several hours earlier, a property manager in Daggett reported that a 30-foot boom was stolen off of a construction crane that was stored on land along Daggett-Yermo Road, Doemner said. The boom had been disassembled into 10-foot pieces when deputies recovered it. The property manager identified the boom as the one that has been stolen.

Deputies found footprints at the scene of the theft, and there was a winch in the back of the truck, Doemner said. One of the men claimed to have the property owner’s permission to take the boom, but the property owner said otherwise, he said.

The owner estimated the value of the boom at $6,000, he said.

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