DOUGLAS COUNTY, Neb. —

Douglas County is growing fast: in the past five years, the population increased by over 20,000.

Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson says the county is experiencing construction thefts among these new developments.

He says the county saw 115 job site thefts in 2023.

"Homebuilders and commercial construction companies were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every year," said Hanson.

Since then, deputies have been cracking down on the problem, using methods such as license plate readers and devices to track stolen equipment.

Now, the number of thefts has dropped by over 50%, with 43 reported in 2025.

But Sheriff Hanson says the total value of the items stolen remains the same; He says repeat offenders are committing high-dollar thefts, stealing heavy machin

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