An individual has been arrested for possession of a stolen Wells Cargo trailer reported stolen in 2023

| by Travis Uresk | March 4^th 2026 |

This case started in the early summer of 2023 when a 2010 Wells Cargo trailer was reported stolen in Vernal, Utah. The trailer was listed as stolen on NCIC shortly after.

On 01/28/26, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Vernal City Police Department that the stolen trailer had been flagged by the DMV in Roosevelt City when someone attempted to gain a new title and transfer ownership of the trailer.

The DCSO deputy interviewed the person who attempted to transfer the paperwork, who stated he had purchased the trailer from 53-year-old Richard Dalton French.

The deputy interviewed Richard, who gave him multiple accounts of how he obtained the trailer. Initially, Richard stated he only had the trailer for a couple of weeks, then for a maximum of a month. He told law enforcement he bought it from an individual identified as "C," but didn't know his full name, and didn't have any contact information for the mystery man.

Richard told the deputy that his friend, "R," should know "C" better than him and will likely have "C's" contact information.

Richard said he had purchased the trailer for $300, but never obtained a bill of sale or title. Richard also claimed that "R" was present when he bought the trailer from "C," a claim "R" never made. The deputy explained to Richard that it would be in his best interest to provide "C's" contact information, as "C" was the first known person to be in possession of the stolen trailer. Richard said he should be able to get the information from his daughter and agreed to call the deputy back with it.

During the conversation, Richard began telling the deputy a different story, saying he thought it had been stolen from someone who had sold it to him, which the deputy never indicated. Richard went on to say that he purchased the trailer from a lady for $1800 a long time ago.

He again could not identify the person from whom he bought the trailer and had no bill of sale or receipt. He said it was purchased at a shop in Ballard City, which is no longer there. Richard said he originally put $400 down and then made payments on a trailer that was not in his possession. Richard said he kept getting calls from the lady telling him he needed to pay $200 more, repeatedly, seemingly to indicate more money than what was originally agreed upon.

Richard told law enforcement he had heard a rumor that she was doing the same thing to someone else, so he decided to pay the entire amount owed and pick up the trailer. He admitted he did not have permission to go get the trailer, but argued that the lady never said anything about it.

Richard said “Dave” was mad at the lady for not providing him with a bill of sale. Richard said that approximately a year later, he owed someone money, so he sold it in lieu of his payments. Richard then said a few months later, "A buddy" of his now possessed the trailer, so he bought it from him (identifying him only as Chris) for $300.

Richard was not able to provide any of Chris' information, as he stated before, who he supposedly bought the trailer from, saying he doesn't like to associate with people like him anymore.

Richard said he made the payments to the woman approximately 3 years ago through an app on his phone called "Cash App." The deputy asked Richard why he didn't tell him about the same trailer being sold twice by him, to which he stated he didn't know and that he was "just scared." Richard denied the allegation of actually stealing the trailer.

Law enforcement asked Richard if he could provide details of the transactions on his Cash App, but he responded that he didn't remember because he was too high on drugs at the time. The deputy warned him that, if needed, he could subpoena CashApp for its records and asked whether they needed to go that route to get the information.

Richard added to the story, stating that he actually sold the trailer to the shop in Ballard at one point and then bought it back from Chris. Richard agreed to look through his transactions when he was able and to get back to the police with the screenshots, if possible.

By 02/02/26, Richard had still not attempted to contact the deputy with the requested information.

The deputy contacted Richard to ask whether he was able to look into his Cash App. He told the deputy he had started looking into it, but had given up after only getting so far. Richard said he had also been in contact with Cash App personnel, who told him his email address would be sufficient to get him the information, but he soon discovered his inbox was full, and he didn't have any money to expand it. The deputy recommended deleting some of his old emails to free up space. Richard said he would do so.

Law enforcement asked Richard for his Cash App username so they could issue a subpoena to obtain the transactions through the app company. Still, he said he didn't remember and has had three different usernames, claiming he can't remember any of them, and says he no longer has the Cash App on his phone. Richard also said that his daughter found out the name of the person he purchased the trailer from and identified her only as "V," but did not have a full name or contact information.

Law enforcement warned Richard that they have given him more than enough time to produce evidence of his transactions or contact information from the persons he claimed to have bought the trailer from, either time, and that if he is unable to do so, they will take him into custody.

On 2/26/26, Deputy Nichols arrested Richard French for a 2^nd-degree felony for possession or transfer of a stolen trailer. Richard continued to deny stealing the cargo trailer, but did admit the persons he obtained the trailer from were "shady."