Police: Man who stole snow plow found with multiple weapons

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — A 35-year-old man suspected of stealing a snow plow days after a blizzard in a Southern California mountain town could face grand theft and weapons charges, authorities said Thursday.

The suspect broke into a secure area at City Hall in Big Bear Lake on March 4 and drove off in the snow plow, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

The plow was outfitted with GPS and when deputies tracked it down they found the suspect inside the vehicle, according to a sheriff’s department statement.

The man was found to have an active felony warrant for his arrest and a search of a hotel room where he was staying turned up two rifles and ammunition, the department statement said. A handgun was found in his car, officials said.

The suspect, a resident of San Dimas in Los Angeles County, was held on $60,000 bail and ordered to return to court March 13.

Big Bear Lake and surrounding towns in mountains east of Los Angeles are still digging out from a late-February snow dump that collapsed roofs, buried cars and blocked roads.