Cargo Theft ALERT: Viking offers $25K reward in theft

GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — Viking Range is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the theft of a semi-trailer load of Viking products valued at between $250,000 and $300,000.

Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks tells The Greenwood Commonwealth (http://bit.ly/1pme5ap ) that sometime over the weekend someone cut the lock on the gate at Viking's distribution center on U.S. Highway 82, where a loaded trailer was sitting.

Banks says the thief or thieves brought a tractor and hauled the items away.

Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Crime Stoppers Inc. is adding $1,000 to the reward and Banks' department is offering $2,000 — for a total of $28,000.

Banks said the semi-trailer was intended to be taken to Memphis for shipment by rail to Viking distributors in Washington state.

Information from: The Greenwood Commonwealth, http://www.gwcommonwealth.com