OFF THE WIRE
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100925/LOCAL07/309259981/1002/LOCAL City dad, son arrested in motorcycle theft ring Jeff Wiehe | The Journal Gazette A motorcycle theft ring that targeted motels along the routes of biker rallies has possibly come to an end.
Indiana State Police arrested a Fort Wayne father and son believed to be involved in stealing dozens of motorcycles in recent months and also recovered 13 stolen Harley-Davidsons thanks to a tip detectives got Thursday morning.
Police are now homing in on a third suspect, as well.
Detectives believe the three would comb through biker rally schedules, figure out the main routes those rallies would take and then use lock-picking equipment to steal the motorcycles from motel parking lots along those routes.
The thefts may have expanded into other states in the Midwest, according to police. Some of the motorcycles recovered were from Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan, with a few from New York and Florida.
The cheapest bike recovered so far is valued about $13,000, while the most expensive is roughly $33,000.
“We’ve known for some time there’s been a rash of motorcycle thefts from motel parking lots across the Midwest,” said Detective Mark Heffelfinger, lead investigator in the case.
But the tip detectives received broke the case open, Heffelfinger said.
Police were told two stolen Harley-Davidson motorcycles were being kept at a home in Auburn. When police went to the home, they found the two stolen bikes – one from Milwaukee, the other from Bloomington – in a stolen trailer.
Donald J. Cupp Sr., 53, of Fort Wayne was arrested on two counts of possession of stolen property in connection to those stolen motorcycles and booked into the DeKalb County Jail.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for a home in the 700 block of Davis Street in Fort Wayne.
There, detectives found another pair of stolen motorcycles, a marijuana-growing operation and a meth lab. At another nearby home, two more stolen motorcycles in a stolen trailer were found.
Cupp’s son, 21-year-old Donald J. Cupp Jr., was then arrested on multiple warrants from Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. He was taken to Allen County Jail.
Though he has not been officially charged in the thefts, Heffelfinger said those charges are pending.
