Going Haywire 

June 6, 2026 – Tulare County Sheriff’s Office officials report that at around 6:00 p.m. on June 4, 2026, TCSO Deputies were called to the Mineral King Dairy at the 33000 Block of Road 108 in Visalia for the theft of a tablet.

When they arrived, Deputies learned the suspect, 34-year-old Forest Vastbinder of Visalia, had been hanging around the dairy and walked into the office and took a Samsung tablet. As he walked away, an employee saw him go near the haystack. A TCSO Deputy then saw the hay bales go up in flames. Deputies tracked Vastbinder down and found the Samsung tablet and a lighter on him. He was arrested for arson, burglary, felony vandalism, and possession of stolen property.

The dairy lost about $200,000 in hay bales and about $100,000 in structural damage from the fire.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office at 559-733-6218.

Source & photos: Tulare County Sheriff’s Office