WILLITS – This week authorities recovered a tractor stolen from the Sacramento Valley in the Willits area and a Butte County man was arrested.

David Day, 43, was taken into custody on Thursday after Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies found him in possession of the stolen Bobcat industrial tractor, according to a report from Capt. Kurt Smallcomb.

Smallcomb said that on Thursday deputies received information from Butte County law enforcement that a tractor theft had taken place in the Chico area.

At 2:30 a.m. Thursday Deputies Brixie and Demarco were working in the area of southern Willits and Highway 101 when they observed a pickup pulling a trailer loaded with a Bobcat loader/tractor, Smallcomb said.

The deputies followed the suspect vehicle south on Highway 101 to the East Highway 20 exit. Smallcomb said they learned the vehicle's and trailer's license information came back from the Butte County area.

Brixie and Demarco – along with other deputies and officers from the California Highway Patrol – conducted a traffic stop in the area of Highway 20 and Marina Drive, Smallcomb said.

Once the vehicle was stopped, Smallcomb said the deputies were able to substantiate that the Bobcat tractor/loader was indeed one of the implements stolen from the Chico area.

The suspect driver, who was identified as Day, was subsequently arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail for possession of stolen property. Smallcomb said Day's bail was set at $15,000.

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