NY Aerial Stolen from Training Center, Found in Nearby City

A New York Fire Department'aerial was stolen Sunday from a training center in another town before being driven and eventually recovered in a city about a dozen miles away.

According to authorities, the Albany Fire Department apparatus had been at the Municipal Training Center in Colonie where it was being used to help train new Albany firefighter recruits, the Times-Union reports. An individual contacted police at around 7 a.m. Monday after seeing the aerial parked along a street in Schenectady.

Police said the gates of the Colonie facility had not been closed or locked Sunday night. Investigators were able to gather fingerprints, DNA and other evidence from the vehicle, but authorities were blaming recent severe weather, which had knocked out power for days, for possibly shutting down security systems around the Colonie facility. 

"There's no surveillance footage in that area there, so we can't narrow down the time frame yet," Colonie Police Lt. Robert Winn told the Times-Union.

Along with the apparatus, firefighting gear also was taken from the training center. Some of that equipment was found within the vehicle when it was recovered, but a pair of boots, a helmet and an air pack were missing.