Stolen Model T recovered

A Flathead County man was arrested Tuesday and charged with the theft of a 1918 Ford Model T from a family that intended to give the antique automobile to the Heritage Museum.

Shane R. Berry faces one count of felony theft, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, which made the arrest, did not provide Berry’s age or city of residence.

The 1918 Model T was stored in a shed on the Schneider Ranch on Highway 2 south of Libby. The Schneider family intended to donate automobile to the Heritage Museum in Libby, but it was rerouted to a different destination on Oct. 17.

“We’re just tickled to death to get it back,” said John Schneider, 78, whose grandfather of the same name purchased the hand-crank starting, once blue Model T from the Bill Cady Ford dealership in Libby.

“I remember my grandfather had to find two other people to buy cars, too.” Schneider said. “They needed to ship at least three to Libby.”

The sheriff’s report on the alleged theft resembles a case of misrepresentation and interception by a suspect with a prior criminal history.

In early October, Schneider and his younger sister, Anna B. Miller, 76, of Kalispell hired a Kalispell steel scrap company to remove much of the old steel and iron on the homesteaded property.

“They came for the steel, and I guess they saw the car and must’ve told someone we had the old Ford on the property,” Schneider said. “We think that’s how they found out about the car.”

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Nate Scofield’s interviewed two employees of the scrap metal company who told him that they had, indeed, mentioned the Model T to Berry, whom they said was in the business of buying and selling Model T parts. But the employees said their only intention was to alert Berry about the possibility of buying the automobile from the Schneiders before they donated it to the museum. The scrap metal workers told Scofield that they never told Berry that he had permission to remove the automobile.

After meeting for breakfast on Oct. 17 with the employees of the scrap metal company, Berry and William Spurzem showed up at the Schneider homestead with Berry’s Dodge truck and a flatbed trailer.

John and Kara Bartlett, both caretakers at the Schneider Ranch, grew suspicious of the pair and alerted the authorities.

“These guys show up at the ranch looking for the car, the day before it’s supposed to go to the Heritage Museum,” Schneider said. “Our caretakers didn’t know. They got suspicious and called police.”

According to Scofield’s report, John Bartlett asked Berry whether he was there from the museum to pick up the car, and Berry replied, “yeah.”

Scofield’s report states Berry misrepresented himself as an agent of the Heritage Museum who was supposed to transport the car to Libby. Scofield’s investigation reveals that Berry, after loading the Model T onto a trailer, even turned left toward Libby before reversing direction and heading south on Highway 2 toward Kalispell. It was after seeing Berry’s Dodge truck do an about-face toward Kalispell, that John Bartlett began pursuit and eventually caught the tandem at mile marker No. 54.

After persuading Berry to stop, Bartlett urged the pair to return the Model T, at which time Berry issued an expletive and sped away. From that point, Montana Highway Patrol officers became involved and eventually caught the pair just outside Kalispell at mile marker 115.

Troopers separated Berry and Spurzem during questioning and determined Spurzem was “along for the ride” and knew little of the alleged plot to remove the car from the property.

(Berry’s) story did not make any sense,” Scofield stated in his report. “He admitted that he wanted to get the car really cheap to fix up and sell.”

Berry estimated the value of the car at $2,000. However, Dave Etienne, president of the Heritage Museum, said the automobile might be worth more than that, possibly up to $8,000 in the condition it’s in. A fully restored 1918 Ford Model T currently is listed for sale at $44,900 on Hemmings Motor News’ auction website.

The automobile was recovered by authorities and transported to the Heritage Museum in early November, finally fulfilling a family’s wish.

“I’m real happy they got the car back,” Miller said. “If they had gotten too much farther I don’t know that they would have recovered it. That car has so many memories. There is a Western News article back in 1918 that says, ‘A prosperous family bought a Ford Model T.’ I don’t know that my grandfather was prosperous, but that’s what it said.”

Miller said her grandfather arrived in Montana from Bavaria, Germany, in 1890 and homesteaded the property.

Schneider said his grandfather purchased the four-cylinder car for $325.

“It didn’t have a generator. Had the hand-crank to start it and kerosene lights,” Schneider said. “It was a part of our family history. I’m just glad it’s going to the museum where it belongs.”

Ron Carter, the museum’s director for equipment restoration, was at the Heritage Museum nearly three weeks ago after the car was released from the Lincoln County Impound Yard.

“I’m glad it’s finally here,” Carter said. “It ended well.”