A local owner is offering a $2,000 reward after a thief stole a truck from a public agency and used it as a battering ram to break into his business.

It’s the third time someone has stolen a truck from the National Trails and Recreation District office on Mitchell Boulevard in Springfield. Neal Carpenter, maintenance supervisor, said he moved the keys for the agency’s 20 trucks to another location. However, sometime Sunday night, someone broke a back office window and entered the building, taking all of the vehicle keys and stealing one truck from the fenced parking lot.

“Right now we are on pins and needles wondering if he’ll come back and steal more trucks,” Carpenter said. “We can’t re-key all our trucks. It’s 20 trucks. It would be expensive and time consuming.”

Just like in the National Trails truck thefts last summer, the truck was used to ram through the back wall of a business. It’s the second time in two months Compton Power Equipment at 5375 Urbana Road has been broken into this way. Owner John Organ saidthe thief stole 17 chain saws valued at $5,500.

“It’s very expensive. Not only (is the) merchandise gone and of course the (building), it’s insured but the deductible’s going up every day each time this happens,” Organ said.

Clark County Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Clark said it’s believed the thief in the latest break-in also is responsible for the other thefts. Organ is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information that leads to an arrest.

“That’s how adamant I am,” he said. “Anything we can do to catch this guy we need to do it.”

The missing truck, a green 1990 Chevy 3500 with National Trails logos on both doors and the number 655 on both fenders, is valued at about $5,000 but Carpenter said it would cost at least $20,000 to replace.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Clark County Sheriff’s Office at (937) 521-2050 or Springfield police at (937) 324-7680.