Contra Costa Sheriff investigators say they’ve busted a serial airplane thief

CONCORD — It might sound like the plot of a Carmen Sandiego episode, but police here say they really caught a man attempting to pull off the theft of multiple airplanes.

The 28-year-old suspect, a Concord resident, has now been charged with six felonies, including attempted grand theft and attempted fraud. It all started when a local airplane owner learned of a pending sale of his plane, which he had not authorized nor had any prior knowledge of, police said.

When the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office investigated the report...