Charges were filed yesterday against a 48-year-old man accused of stealing heavy construction equipment from two O'ahu job sites last week and trying to extort money from owners for their return.

Vance Grace, who has 31 prior convictions, was charged with two counts of first-degree theft and attempted first-degree extortion. His bail is $100,000.

Such theft-extortion scams involving heavy equipment are not uncommon, local contractors said.

Six other backhoes were discovered on Grace's Wai'anae property, said police Sgt. Kim Buffett, coordinator for CrimeStoppers.

A court affidavit states that on Feb. 20, a Cat 420D backhoe belonging to Frank Coluccio Construction was reported stolen from a Kapi'olani Boulevard job site and that a cement mixer and trailer belonging to Richard Lee Construction, which was working nearby, were discovered missing.

The next day a Coluccio supervisor received a phone call offering the return of the backhoe for $5,000, the court document said.

Auto theft Detective Thomas Santos recorded cell phone conversations on Feb. 23 allegedly from a man identifying himself as "Grace" to a representative of Coluccio Construction offering the return of the backhoe for $5,000, the affidavit said. The caller had introduced himself to the representative earlier in the day to "offer help" in recovering the backhoe.

The offer came from a man with a rectangular tattoo on his neck, the affidavit noted, and Vance Grace was identified through a photo lineup.

Fran Silva, president of Henry's Equipment Rental and Sales, said thieves have stolen equipment from her work sites three times in 15 years.

The most recent incident was two weeks ago. Workers showed up at Kapolei District Park for a job and found that the company's $85,000 backhoe had been stolen overnight.

"We put out the word, searched, called around and filed a police report," Silva said. "The next day we received a phone call offering it back to us for $1,500. We told the caller where to go.

"Our people continued looking for it and found it on one of our job sites in Nanakuli. A guy was driving it up the road. When our workers called out, he jumped off and ran."

Contractors try to help each other out, Silva said.

"We all try to keep our eyes open for each other," Silva added. "Someone stole a backhoe from one job site at night and was driving it on the highway with blinking lights and the driver was wearing a hard hat and vest so it looks like a work crew. The owner was contacted."

Stealing the tractors is not difficult since they use a common key. Some contractors are installing additional devices requiring a separate key.

In addition to extorting money, thieves sometimes use the tractors for business or sell them to unlicensed contractors. Since Sept. 11, it has been difficult to ship stolen tractors off-island or to foreign countries, Silva said.

"We've had people come and 'borrow' our equipment unknown to us for a weekend to do a backyard job and return it to the job site," Silva said. "(Theft of tractors) has been a problem for a long time."

Buffett asked that anyone with information on similar thefts call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cell phone.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.