Men accused in fatal Midland hit-and-run stole $100K in outdoor equipment, deputies say
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies recovered about $100,000 worth of outdoors equipment Tuesday they suspect was stolen by two men tied to the Jan. 15 hit-and-run in Midland that killed one 12-year-old girl and injured another.
The equipment was found when deputies served a search warrant on a storage unit in Parkland where they believed the men were keeping stolen property. Inside, they found piles of weed whackers, chainsaws, mowers and other equipment.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies started digging into 32-year-old Terry Kohl’s activities after he was arrested and charged last month with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault among other crimes in the hit-and-run.
Deputies said they discovered Kohl and a 33-year-old man arrested on suspicion of giving Kohl a ride home after the hit-and-run were involved in significant property theft. Sheriff’s department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss said the follow-up investigation led deputies to the storage unit rented under Kohl’s name.
The equipment was stolen from three landscaping companies and two construction companies. Moss said deputies were able to tie them back to the businesses by matching serial numbers to equipment that had been reported stolen. The items have since been inventoried and returned.
When a SWAT team arrested Kohl at his home on Jan. 27, deputies said they recovered $15,000 of property also believed to have been stolen from one of the five businesses.
Deputies said additional charges of possession of stolen property for the men will be forwarded to the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 2:02 PM.
