In Colton, California, parking enforcement officer Bill Harring usually spends his mornings in a white city pickup, cruising neighborhood streets for blocked driveways and expired meters. On August 6, though, he spotted something that didn’t belong: a massive, unattended tractor-trailer stacked with all different cars, parked on the side of Valley Boulevard. No driver. No movement. Just sitting there.

Harring, an 82-year-old Vietnam War veteran who has spent 26 years in parking enforcement, said he immediately felt something was wrong

That gut instinct sent him to check the cab and run the truck’s plates from his mobile terminal. What came back confirmed his suspicions: stolen. Not just the big rig, but every single car and truck riding on its trailer.

By the time officers tallied the find, they had recovered 10 stolen vehicles worth more than $330,000, NBC 5 shared.

Police later confirmed the cars had been taken from a small Northern California town and were likely bound for the black market, where they would have been stripped for parts

Harring’s quick call stopped the operation cold before a single wrench could turn.

Colton Police Chief Anthony Vega called it the largest vehicle recovery of Harring’s career, though the officer brushed off the praise. He explained that he has towed plenty of cars over the years and considered it just another day on the job.

Still, Vega noted that Harring’s watchfulness saved the owners from a mountain of insurance claims, repair battles, and replacement costs.

Could you spot a load of stolen cars?

While most auto transport rigs are legitimate, law enforcement and industry experts point out a few red flags.

Unattended trailers in public areas, especially with no driver in sight for long stretches, can be a sign that something’s wrong.

So can vehicles stacked on the trailer that appear damaged, mismatched in branding, or missing plates.

A truck parked far from industrial zones or without markings for a carrier company may also raise eyebrows.

If something seems off, authorities recommend noting the plate number and location, then reporting it…but never approaching the vehicle yourself.

The investigation now focuses on who abandoned the truck in Colton and why

So far, no suspects have been identified, and the intended destination for the stolen load remains a mystery.

Harring came to the job late in life, starting as a volunteer after retiring. He joined the city payroll in his late 50s because, as he put it, he “didn’t have enough to do.” At 82, his energy still puts younger officers to shame, and his attention to detail just delivered one of Colton’s biggest wins against auto theft in years.