A multi-county investigation has begun into what police are calling a highly organized theft ring that might be responsible for the theft of heavy equipment in communities across the Upstate and North Carolina border.

On Wednesday, officials from Spartanburg County and Polk County, N.C., announced the arrest of a man who allegedly tried to run from Polk County officers in a stolen truck that was towing a stolen tractor. The man’s name wasn’t released since police still were talking with him.

The arrest follows several recent waves of heavy equipment theft in multiple counties. Investigators are looking into whether Cherokee County might have also been targeted.

Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Ivey said eight pieces of heavy equipment were taken over a period of just a few weeks this summer. In Polk County, N.C., Sheriff’s Department Capt. Tracy Aldridge said his jurisdiction saw six tractor thefts.

Aldridge said his office has since been working with Spartanburg County, Henderson County and Greenville County.

While authorities in Spartanburg and Polk County have been successful in recovering some stolen equipment, none of the recovered pieces have been linked to Cherokee County, which has experienced a number of equipment thefts over the past year.

“So far, none of it’s ours,” confirmed Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton.

A look at past police reports showed several of the equipment thefts in Cherokee County were clustered around April and May. During April, for instance, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office reported the thefts of a Kubota tractor from Buck Shoals Road, a Kubota tractor from Chesnee Highway and the theft of a New Holland skid steer and a Kubota skid steer from a business that was burglarized.

In May 2009, a trailer containing a Bobcat construction vehicle was taken from Chesnee Highway, according to police reports.

When Spartanburg County experienced its recent crime wave, Ivey said the sheriff’s office launched an investigation and started reaching out to other jurisdictions. “We found some of those others had also experienced similar types of thefts and the investigation started to snowball,” he said.

Aldridge said the Polk County Sheriff’s Office already had been engaged in an undercover investigation when it attempted a traffic stop Wednesday on the vehicle towing the stolen tractor.

He said Polk County has recovered one piece of stolen equipment at an auction in Georgia. It’s believed all of the stolen equipment was being sold whole, and not being chopped up for parts.

“They (the thieves) would take orders for these tractors,” Aldridge said. “This was very tightly organized and bolted together.”

Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright is advising owners of heavy equipment they should take steps to avoid becoming easy targets.

“You’ve got to secure this type of equipment if you have it,” Ivey relayed. “These folks have demonstrated they can pick this stuff up very easily. If it’s loaded up on a trailer, hey, you’ve done most of the work for them.”