PLAQUEMINE – Thieves in Iberville Parish are getting their hands on pricey items. Deputies are seeing an increase in stolen ATVs. In one month, seven four-wheelers were stolen, four of which were taken in one night.

“I'm still mad, I'm still mad,” said Tony Boudreaux.

Boudreaux had two swiped from his home. They belonged to his young children.

“They cried and cried and cried. It’s not something as a parent you want to see your kids go through,” he said. “It’s sad that [someone] would steal from a kid.”

Major Ronnie Hebert, with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office says this is something new. They don't usually see this many ATVs stolen in a short amount of time.

“It was spread out over about a three-mile radius in different locations,” said Hebert, on the proximity of the thefts.

Hebert believes it’s a group of three people, who don't live in Plaquemine, that are responsible. Deputies arrested one man, Andre Griffin, back in May on a theft charge. A stolen ATV reported in Plaquemine was in the front lawn of the home Griffin was staying at in Port Allen. Griffin admitted to stealing the four wheeler to authorities.

“I think they're doing it as a chop shop type of thing,” said Hebert.

Still looking for other thieves involved, the sheriff’s office is beefing up patrol in targeted Plaquemine neighborhoods.

Boudreaux is hoping this, along with his own $500 reward, will lead to his kid’s four wheelers returned. He doesn't want to have to pay for the prized possessions a second time.

“That’s a lot of money to come out of pocket, again,” he said.

The sheriff’s office is asking those who know anything about the thefts to give them a call at (225) 687-5100.