Dairy farmer arrested for alleged cow theft after investigation;
area farms see increase in losses
Gilroy – A San Martin dairy farmer was arrested Thursday morning by Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies on suspicion of stealing 156 dairy cows and farming equipment from his investors after a five-month investigation.
Jeffrey Whalen, 38, was arrested at his San Martin dairy farm on a $250,000 warrant for grand theft, forgery and writing bad checks, police said.
The incident comes in the midst of a rise in agricultural thefts across South County this month, which has left area farmers fuming and with profits pinched.
“The investor thought it was a good deal for him and for Jeff to make some money,” said Rural Crimes Deputy Doug Vander Esch. “Less than a year later, the cows are gone. He sold them off supposedly, we’re not exactly sure where all of them ended up.”
Whalen also has done business throughout California, Texas and Arkansas, and authorities believe he may have left behind a trail of debt.
“We had a lot of cooperation from other ranchers and farmers,” Vander Esch said. “It gets complicated because we have victims in Santa Clara County, but there are also victims elsewhere.”
He and California Brand Inspector John Suther worked closely together after being contacted by Whalen’s investors last year.
According to police, the group invested $190,000 on the cows and for a John Deere tractor for the farm at 1565 East Middle Ave. in San Martin. Whalen served as a caretaker for the animals and investors grew suspicious after he failed to pay back the loan, police said.
If convicted, he faces more than six years in prison. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse this afternoon.
But disappearing cows aren’t the only problems South County farmers are facing.
In the past two weeks, a generator, cherry picker, tractor, 75 irrigation pipes and a trailer have been stolen from the fields and sheds of area farms – not to mention acts of vandalism and trash dumping that have emptied their pockets, too.
In addition, Gilroy police and the Sheriff’s office teamed up in recent weeks to share information on related residential burglaries, which led to the arrest of three individuals earlier this month.
“All the deputies have been taking more theft (reports) in the past three weeks,” Vander Esch said. “Lock up your equipment. We’re at the point where we need to put up fences around stored equipment. The days where you could leave the equipment in the yard and come back the next day are gone.”
Thieves stole a yellow irrigation pipe trailer with 75 irrigation pipes from B & T Farms sometime between April 7 and April 19. The financial loss is at least $7,500. Police say the thieves usually take the pipes to recycling operations for cash.
“Normally we have our pipes lying out in the fields. It’s never been a problem before,” said manager Paul Mirassou. “We know a lot of farmers who have had tractors stolen.”
Most of the recent theft has been primarily of diesel fuel, he said.
“We lock things up, we try to be vigilant,” Mirassou said.
But even being vigilant about labeling equipment couldn’t save hay farmer Kip Brundage from losing about $7,000 in profits to a vandal who tore up 5.7 acres of fields with a 4-by-4 truck Saturday night.
The problem of vandals tearing up fields with trucks has plagued South County farmers for years.
“We’ve had five fields hit this year,” Brundage said. “They do it on the lettuce fields, on the pepper fields, on the hay fields. When you see (the damage) by air it’s dramatic. We can’t let this go on. It cost us $7,000.”
And that’s not including the cost of the seedlings, the planting and the irrigation of the fields. Foot deep grooves are gouged into the fields, spraying dirt and other contaminants over the orchard grass.
“That can’t be fed to animals,” he said.
In 35 years of farming, Brundage has only caught four vandals who destroyed his fields, but while out searching Sunday he followed tracks to a nearby Buena Vista Avenue home.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Gilroy resident Fabian Ramon, 28, Sunday afternoon on suspicion of vandalizing Brundage’s fields.
The incident is just the most recent financial setback for Brundage after a $1,000 cherry picker was stolen earlier this month.
The cherry picker is one of the only items not labeled with one of the free personal identification codes available from the Sheriff’s department for individuals to attach to their property. If authorities find stolen property with these codes, the equipment can be returned to the owner.
“People can sign up for the program on the Internet, or I can help them,” Vander Esch said. “Fences need to go up. Security cameras are a good idea. Be aware. Look out for your neighbors. Call us if you see someone suspicious.”
For more information about the identification codes: Visit www.agcrime.net
