Man accused of stealing plane at North Las Vegas Airport, flying to California: Officials

Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY
Updated ·2 min read
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A man was arrested in California for allegedly stealing an aircraft and flying it for over 100 miles from North Las Vegas to Barstow over the weekend, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

Damian Zukaitis, 40, a resident of Boise, Idaho, was charged with possessing a stolen aircraft and transporting stolen property over state lines, according to the sheriff's department. Additional charges related to crimes that occurred in Nevada are pending.

Authorities say Zukaitis stole a 2020 Kitfox from North Las Vegas Airport on Saturday, Dec. 30 and flew it to an area near the Barstow-Daggett Airport, east of Barstow, landing it on the roadway outside the airport.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Barstow station was alerted about the incident around 6:48 p.m. when they made aware that the fixed-wing single-engine type aircraft had gone missing from the airport. Barstow is approximately 115 miles east of Los Angeles.

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Man arrested for stealing airplane

SBSD said that the Federal Aviation Authority alerted them of the aircraft that had 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," said the police. During the investigation, Zukaitis fled on foot into the desert area.

However, he was located shortly after and taken into custody.

Aircraft valued at $80,000

The aircraft belonged to Jeff Cohn who discovered that his property was stolen after he received a phone call from Air Force Search and Rescue at about 6:00 p.m., the same day. Authorities called Cohn after they received a notification from aircraft's emergency location transmitter, which signals a downed aircraft when activated. Jeff told authorities that he was not flying his aircraft and immediately drove to his hangar in North Las Vegas where he discovered the aircraft was missing from its hangar.

Investigation determined that the that aircraft was valued at approximately $80,000.

Authorities in North Las Vegas said attempts to steal airplanes on December 27, 28, and 29 were made and that they believe Zukaitis might be behind those too, according to Local21News.

A motive is not yet known and the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration are investigating it in collaboration with the local authorities.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man arrested after plane stolen from North Las Vegas Airport: Officials