yellow truck

The truck is the same conspicuous yellow that it was when it went missing. (Courtesy Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office)

(Courtesy KCSO)

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI -- Two men were arrested Wednesday morning at the Barton Lake Public Access near the intersection of XY Avenue and Portage Road, and a truck they are accused of stealing was recovered from that spot.

The men, 27 and 28 years old, are lodged in county jails in Kalamazoo and Van Buren County, facing a laundry list of changes that include receiving and concealing stolen property, retail fraud, possession of narcotics, and outstanding warrants, according to a news release from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office.

Detective Sgt. Jim VanZile from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office said that when authorities caught up with the men, the extended-cab Dodge Ram pickup truck was still the conspicuous bright yellow color it had been when it disappeared from the Otsego home of its owner.

"They had changed the tires and rims" to attempt to disguise the truck, VanZile said. "We expected it to be in a million pieces, or bright purple."

The sheriff's office and the Michigan State Police SCAR unit received information concerning the stolen Otsego truck and the suspects were believed to be connected to various stolen vehicles and thefts from Kalamazoo County, Portage, Otsego, and other jurisdictions as far north as Cadillac.

Several stolen vehicles had been previously recovered in Kalamazoo County as well as Allegan County.

Rosemary Parker is a reporter for MLive. Contact her at rparker3@mlive.com.