Sheriff: Truck Thieves Played Bumper Cars With Stolen Semi, Truck

More arrests have been made after a trio of men reportedly committed a series of truck thefts in Washington and Johnson Counties last year, culminating this January with a ill fated round of demolition derby in Kalona involving a stolen semi and stolen truck.

According to an Iowa City Police criminal complaint, on Oct. 3, 2012, Washington County authorities discovered three trucks on a railroad bed that were later determined to be stolen, with one of them, a truck valued at $10,000, originating in Iowa City. 

Three months later, in the early morning hours of Jan. 22, police say a truck was stolen by three individuals and driven to the Farmers' Hen House, an organic egg farm in Kalona. They then stole a semi from the business and began ramming the pickup with the semi truck.

Mitchell Schmidt of the Press-Citizen reported that the men responsible for the January semi incident were also implicated in the trucks found in Washington County.

Lt. Kevin Kinney, Johnson County detective in charge of investigations, said the trio then rammed the semi into the pickup, “basically totaling the pickup” and causing more than $35,000 in damages to the two vehicles.

In May, Travis Alan Peterson, 22, of Washington was arrested and allegedly admitted to taking part in the in January truck caper with two co-defendants. He was then booked into the Johnson County Jail. His two co-defendants were later identified by authorities as brothers Nathan Douglas Mueller, 22, and Michael Patrick Mueller, 19, of Washington. 

Michael Mueller is the only one of the three currently shown in custody in the Johnson County Jail according to online records and is shown as being booked into the jail on June 7. He is being held on $65,000 bail on first-degree theft and first-degree criminal mischief charges. Washington County is shown as having a detainer on his custody that they have not released.