VALENTINE, Neb. - A 35-year-old Mission, South Dakota man accused of stealing a road grader from the Road Department in Mission and driving it across the state line to Valentine appeared in court on Monday. Calvin Hunger is charged with theft of property valued at $5,000 or more, a Class 2A felony.

According to court records, Valentine police were alerted shortly after midnight on June 26 when GPS tracking showed the stolen road grader was within city limits. Authorities located the grader in the parking lot of Circle K Motors, near the Bunkhouse Restaurant and Saloon. Police say Hunger was found in the driver’s seat with the engine still running. He was ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint and taken into custody.

The Todd County Sheriff’s Office reported that the motor grader had been stolen by driving it through a fence at the Department of Roads lot.

Hunger is a former employee of the roads department. Investigators say he knew how to operate the equipment and had a set of department keys.