Henderson police arrest man suspected in theft of rail equipment worth $786K

A man suspected of stealing equipment from a Henderson rail equipment company was arrested more than a year after the alleged theft, police said.

Clinton Rutherford, 42, has been charged with grand larceny, theft of more than $100,000 of property, destroying property, conspiracy to commit a crime and possessing burglary tools.

Henderson police responded to Progress Rail, 860 Wigwam Parkway, on Jan. 20, 2022, after employees noticed items had been cut off of equipment and stolen. Hundreds of cables were taken from train motors. The combined value of the stolen items and labor cost to fix the damage was $786,346, according to a Henderson Police Department arrest warrant.

An employee noticed a wallet left on the ground of the equipment lot. Rutherford’s driver’s license was in the wallet along with a receipt from Home Depot for the purchase of a cutting tool and other items.

Staff reviewed video surveillance that captured someone walking around the lot on Jan. 3, 2022, around 2:50 a.m. The person in the video made movements consistent with using a large set of cutters, the arrest warrant said.

Police said Rutherford had been arrested 33 times since 2010 and had a history of selling large amounts of copper wire, brass and steel products.

Rutherford, who was arrested on Jan. 1, is being held on $50,000 bail and is due in court on Tuesday.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.