Eight four-wheelers were stolen in the spring – but no thieves could be identified by the police.
Then a group of Ekhärad residents set up game cameras, to help catch those responsible themselves.
And the trap paid off.
Private detectives helped to capture the four-wheeler league that was ravaging northern Värmland, which SVT Värmland was the first to report on.
At the end of April, the police found a cache of three quad bikes in the forest. That was after one of the vehicle’s GPS had failed and its owner raised the alarm.
But several four-wheelers were still missing and no one was arrested.
It was then that the local trio set up game cameras in the area around the old hide. In mid-May, cameras caught two vans arriving at the scene.
Chased the vans
When the trio sees that two cars have appeared at the hideout, they begin a car chase after the suspected thieves.
“We jumped into the cars and followed,” one told the police.
After alerting the police and then following the cars themselves for a good distance, several suspects could be stopped.
Later in the day, the three men could be arrested, all from Lithuania. On Wednesday, the trial begins against the men, who are charged with aggravated embezzlement and aggravated theft.