DATE/TIME: December 30, 2023, 6:48 p.m.
INCIDENT: PC497-Transporting stolen property across state lines / PC499d-Stealing an aircraft
LOCATION: Stolen from North Las Vegas / Landed east of Daggett Airport
SUSPECT(S): Damian Zukaitis, 40-year-old Resident of Boise, Idaho
VICTIM(S): Jeff Cohn, resident of Nevada
SUMMARY: On December 30, 2023, the victim, Jeff Cohn, received a phone call from Air Force Search and Rescue at about 6:00 p.m., after they received a notification from his Kitfox personal aircraft's emergency location transmitter. This beacon signals a downed aircraft when activated. Jeff advised he was not flying his aircraft and immediately drove to his hangar in North Las Vegas where he discovered the aircraft was not in the hangar.
At about 6:48 p.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Barstow station received a call from the FAA advising the aircraft landed near the Daggett Airport. Deputies responded to the scene and located Damian Zukaitis, taxiing the aircraft on Minneola Road heading back towards the airport. During the investigation Damian fled on foot. Damian was located shortly afterwards and detained. Deputies coordinated with North Las Vegas Police and the FBI to determine the aircraft was stolen. The aircraft was valued at about $80,000.
Damian Zukaitis was arrested and booked at the Barstow jail for bringing stolen property into the state and and taking an aircraft without the owners consent. North Las Vegas Police Department is handling the investigation into the stolen aircraft.
Refer: Deputy. D. Johnson
Station: Barstow
Phone No. (760) 256-4838
Case No. 082301776
SHANNON D. DICUS, Sheriff-Coroner
San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department
