In October 2014, the Bedford (TX) Police Department contacted the Task Force after patrol officers interrupted an in-progress theft of a Harley Davidson motorcycle in an apartment complex. One suspect was arrested by officers and several others fled the scene, taking the motorcycle with them. Due to the Task Force’s expertise in auto crime investigations, Bedford PD requested that the Task Force adopt the case and take over the interview and investigation. This patrol-initiated arrest ultimately led investigators to uncover a sophisticated motorcycle theft ring that was linked to members of a prominent outlaw motorcycle gang. The investigation would span two states (Texas and California) and two countries (Unites States and New Zealand). This request was one of 2,514 agency assists rendered by the Task Force in 2014, and arguably the most significant in recent years.

  From left to right: Sgt. Matt Pedersen, Arlington PD, Team Leader, Agent Lester Keener of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Detective Justin Kipker of the Saginaw, TX Police Dept, and Reg Philips, Committee Member

Det. Kipker and Agent Keener determined that the Bedford arrestee was a paid lookout for the primary suspect, who was an active enlisted member of the U.S. Army and a confirmed member of the outlaw motorcycle gang. The suspect and other club members were already the subjects of an unrelated Aggravated Assault offense in Bell County, TX from 2012 where they were involved in a deadly shooting incident. Kipker and Keener determined that the main modus operandi of the suspect and club members was to locate Harley Davidson motorcycles, pick the ignition cylinder with a custom lock-pick set, defeat the electronic ignition system and drive the stolen motorcycle to an awaiting enclosed cargo trailer that had been parked in close proximity to the offense location. The suspect would then transport the stolen motorcycles to either a staging location in Temple, TX or to a motorcycle shop in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Surveillance video captured on a Walmart security camera provided investigators with evidence corroborating the arrestee’s information and provided a suspect vehicle and trailer description for investigators. An investigator with the Heart of Texas Auto Theft Task Force (Waco) was requested to surveil the suspect’s known address in Temple, TX, where the investigator located and matched the suspected vehicle and trailer used in the thefts.

Investigators began an exhaustive search across the State of Texas for similar offenses. Several agencies responded with matching offenses, in particular, an offense in Grand Prairie, TX from June 2014 that included video the suspect’s vehicle and trailer being used in the offense. Det. Kipker also located several insurance claims made by the suspect involving the same vehicle used to travel the state and steal motorcycles. Det. Kipker secured photos from insurance claim files, one of which included a picture of the suspect vehicle and the suspect’s trailer captured in the reflection of the vehicle’s rear window attached to the car.

Armed with the corroborating evidence, Det. Kipker and Agent Keener secured a search warrant for the suspect’s cellular provider’s data as well as a court order authorizing the installation of a GPS tracking device on the suspect’s vehicle in November 2014. When live tracker data indicated that the suspect was headed from his residence in Temple toward Dallas, Task Force investigators conducted an intercept and surveillance operation, ultimately leading investigators to the business of a Harley Davidson internet sales dealer in Richardson, TX. Investigators then coordinated a “soft stop” with a Texas DPS trooper on the suspect’s return trip to Temple, where he was identified and released with a freshly painted Harley Davidson in-tow.

Over the course of the next several months and after securing information from phone records, internet sales searches, GPS tracking, pole-camera monitoring and mobile surveillance operations, Kipker and Keener identified 17 additional theft offenses. They also identified two Dallas County businesses involved in the “chopping,” VIN-swapping, sales and shipping of the stolen motorcycles. Investigators also identified a storage unit in Temple that had been used by the suspect to conceal stolen motorcycles. In an intelligence-sharing meeting with US Army CID and after noticing a decline in Harley thefts and activity, investigators learned that the suspect was deployed overseas from December 2014 until September 2015.

Although the suspect was out of the country, Kipker and Keener continued their investigative efforts and located two Harley motorcycles that were set for export through the port in Long Beach, CA by one of the two involved suspect businesses. Investigators made contact with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in February 2015 requesting the shipping container be located and detained. An inspection of the motorcycles in the container determined they had parts from stolen Harley motorcycles from Crockett and Garland, TX attached to them.

With the assistance of CBP investigators, it was determined that four motorcycles had already been shipped internationally to New Zealand. Using international contacts, Kipker coordinated with New Zealand Auto Theft investigators who confirmed that three of the four motorcycles were registered in their jurisdiction. One of the motorcycles inspected by New Zealand investigators was confirmed to have stolen motorcycles parts attached that were from bikes reported out of Dallas-Fort Worth.

In June 2015, Kipker and Keener coordinated administrative business inspections at the two Dallas County locations linked to the theft ring through their investigation. 23 officers and investigators from various agencies assisted with the large-scale operation. Within five minutes of entering the first location, investigators located multiple altered frames, stolen component parts and identified the method in which they were swapping VINs. Agent Keener froze the scene and secured a search warrant before seizing scores of stolen/altered parts. Two suspects, Jordanian nationals, were interviewed and arrested. At the second location, investigators located parts to an additional seven stolen Harley Davidson bikes, frames with the VINs cut out and seized several component parts with obliterated identification numbers.

In December 2015, three months after the suspect returned from deployment, the Temple (TX) Police Department responded to the suspect’s residence at the request of Austin PD who was tracking a stolen 2016 Harley Davidson from their city. Kipker and Keener were notified and immediately responded to Temple from Fort Worth where they assisted with the execution of a search warrant at the residence. Investigators located component parts and documentation associated with six stolen Harleys. Two complete motorcycles, both stolen, were also located by investigators and recovered. Also seized, was the custom lock-pick/ Harley theft kit used by the suspect to steal the motorcycles. The suspect was arrested for the theft of the Austin bike and jailed. It was later determined by Temple PD that the suspect was possibly related to 30 additional violent crime offenses that had occurred in the Temple/Killeen area over the past several years.

Kipker and Keener presented their Harley Davidson theft ring case and investigation details to an assistant U.S. District Attorney from the Western District in Waco, TX. In February 2016, after receiving cooperation from the Jordanian nationals, the suspect and an additional gang member were indicted on federal charges for Conspiracy to Maintain a Chop Shop and warrants were issued. The suspect, who was out on bond for the Austin motorcycle theft, was arrested by U.S. Marshal’s and is awaiting trial. Several other individuals are currently being investigated and the Task Force is expecting a second and possibly third round of federal indictments on additional suspects in the near future. To date, investigators have located parts and/or complete motorcycles related to more than 40 thefts in Texas.

Det. Kipker and Agent Keener have truly demonstrated an extraordinary amount of investigative skill and coordination while spearheading this criminal conspiracy case. Det. Kipker, working closely with the Harley headquarters in Milwaukee and local shop personnel throughout the course of the investigation, has developed into a subject matter expert in Harley Davidson identification. He was recently requested to share his knowledge to law enforcement personnel and to provide a case synopsis regarding this investigation and the lessons learned. Kipker and Keener managed to coordinate an investigation that required the participation of officers and investigators from all levels of government as well as internationally. They employed a myriad of surveillance types, from electronic to human tracking at various stages throughout the investigation. The amount and depth of record searches in law enforcement databases, on internet sites and through social media was unmatched. This case, and their collective effort, epitomizes every good quality that an auto theft investigator should embody. It is my pleasure to nominate these two investigators for the IAATI Award of Merit and my hope that they are rewarded for their dedication and contribution to the profession.

Their receiving the Award of Merit is the result of exemplary investigative skills and determination over the past year and a half involving a motorcycle theft ring operated by members of an organized criminal street gang with international ties. Det. Kipker and Agent Keener are assigned to the Tarrant Regional Auto Crimes Task Force (“Task Force”) in Fort Worth, Texas, one of the 26 grant-funded Task Forces in the State of Texas charged with investigating auto crimes. The Task Force’s program area covers seven counties in North Texas serving approximately 2.1 million citizens and is administered under the umbrella of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. The investigators assigned to the Task Force represent 10 agencies from the local, county and state level, and is led by Commander Bryan Sudan.