EDINBURG, Texas -- Fire Chief Shawn Snider noticed something amiss when he stepped outside Thursday morning.
His truck was gone.
Edinburg police and firefighters ask for the public's help to locate Snider's red 2006 Ford F-250.
Snider reported the missing truck about 7:40 a.m. Thursday, just as Snider was leaving to go to a hurricane conference at the McAllen Convention Center, he said.
"That's just about how everybody knows me," Snider said.
Edinburg Police Chief Quirino Munoz said the truck, naturally, is fire engine red, has Edinburg Volunteer Fire Department logos, striping on the sides, a black tool box in the bed and four doors.
With all the additional equipment in the truck, police estimate its value at $65,000.
"Whatever the motive is, we're disappointed in somebody stealing -- especially this type of emergency response vehicle," Munoz said. "It's a senseless crime."
Snider said having his truck fall into the wrong hands creates a homeland security "high threat," given the various types of radio equipment inside.
"99 percent of the time, I drive with the vehicle," the chief said. "It's an extremely good vehicle, to be able to go anywhere, any time."
Oddly, the chief said, his department-issued truck was at an area body shop and had a new tailgate installed. He just got it back Wednesday.
So for now, as he had been, Snider said he would be driving his personal vehicle, an older Chevrolet pickup truck.
'"I'm in what I call 'Old Reliable,'" he said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
