Jason Hong of Yorba Linda kept his 1958 Cessna Skyhawk at the Corona Municipal Airport, but discovered it missing when he dropped by late last month. The plane turned up two days later at Brackett Field Airport in La Verne.
Then it got stolen again.
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Hong, 75, discovered the second theft when he showed up to work on the plane, from which he previously had removed the battery.
“The airplane is missing again. Unbelievable,” Hong said.
The stolen plane was found — again — on Sunday night, Aug. 3, at the San Gabriel Valley Airport at 4233 Santa Anita Ave. in El Monte.
Nobody was in the plane. But it now had a battery, which Hong estimated was worth a couple hundred dollars. Whoever stole his Cessna from Brackett Field at 1615 McKinley Ave. in La Verne had to install a battery then fly it to El Monte, he reasoned.
Hong’s plane is hard to miss. The previous owner had it painted a bright red with stripes of purple, blue, yellow and orange. Hong, who bought it in the ’90s, called it a unique color.
He kept the Cessna at Corona Municipal Airport at 1900 Aviation Drive for years.
“We don’t go every day. We don’t have time,” he said.
So when he decided to drop by the airport on Sunday, July 27, he got the first shock.
“The airplane was gone. It’s not a crowded airport, not too many people there,” Hong said.
Why had the plane been taken, he wondered. Was it to sell it or take it for a joyride?
Hong reported the theft to Corona police on July 28 and told police he last saw the plane May 1, according to Corona Police Sgt. Robert Montanez.
Before it was stolen from Corona, a website that tracks flights show the Cessna had two flights.
On July 25, the plane was spotted near La Verne at 9:54 p.m. then seen near Palm Springs at 10:45 p.m. There was another flight on July 26, which started near Riverside at 1:31 a.m. and ended near La Verne at 1:53 a.m.
La Verne police called Hong and said that the Cessna was found at Brackett Field on July 29.
The plane was parked in front of the office, Hong said. The battery was dead so he removed it. When he returned Sunday, Aug. 3, the plane was gone. He headed to the La Verne Police Department to file a report.
La Verne police told El Monte police to be on the lookout for the stolen plane, El Monte Police Lt. Aram Choe said.
Officers received information about the plane being in their area, went to the San Gabriel Valley Airport and notified security. They discovered the Cessna there around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Choe said.
Hong found a key, a pair of glasses, a jacket, pepper and cleaning solution in the plane.
He also talked to the manager, who told him about seeing a woman with the plane several times. Hong was also told the woman would stay inside the plane and didn’t enter the air conditioned building.
Hong also met a man at the San Gabriel Valley Airport who had seen the woman and talked to her. The man thought the woman, who told him she was from Chino, owned Hong’s plane.
The woman was described as being in her 40s and short, about 5 feet 3 inches tall.
A man who answered the phone at the San Gabriel Valley Airport referred this newspaper to a county spokesperson.
Hong believes the same person is behind both thefts.
“Why steal a plane? For what, and continually (too)?” he asked.