Thief rides off into the sunset with artwork headed to Western Heritage Classic

ABILENE, Texas — Abilene police are looking for a thief who rode off into the sunset with several pieces of western art worth more than $11,000.

Willie Harris and his wife were in town last weekend for the Western Heritage Classic.

Harris handmakes miniature versions of chuck wagons and stagecoaches.

Between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday, someone broke into his trailer. It was parked outside the Holiday Inn on West Lake Road, where they were staying for the night.

Harris said the thief broke the lock and took a miniature chuckwagon, two miniature Wells Fargo stagecoaches, and three miniature saddles.

The chuckwagons and coaches are 42-inches long and 10-inches wide. They’re designed to look like a scene from the wild west and all the moving pieces work like the wheels, doors and handbrakes. Each one takes about three months to complete.

Harris said the thief is lucky that he did not hear the break-in or he would have handed out his own version of justice.

“I wouldn’t have shot em,” said Harris. “I would’ve killed them on the spot. They lucked out.”