San Joaquin County deputies recover stolen Sinclair dinosaur in Stockton

A stolen dinosaur is back where it belongs after San Joaquin County sheriff's deputies tracked it down in Stockton, officials said.

The dinosaur – a large, green Sinclair gas station statue – was reported stolen Oct. 27 from a gas station in San Joaquin County.

Deputies investigated and identified a suspect, who was later arrested. The sheriff's office said the dinosaur had already changed hands, however, and was with another person who apparently did not know it had been stolen.

Investigators eventually tracked the statue to Stockton, where deputies found it with a bag over its head.

After freeing the dinosaur, deputies and sheriff's volunteers returned it to the Sinclair station.

The sheriff's office did not immediately release the suspect's name or details about possible charges.

"Thanks to the stellar investigative work of our B-Side patrol deputies, this theft of a prehistoric creature did not become unsolved history," the sheriff's office joked. "Another case has officially gone extinct."

The exact gas station that the dinosaur was stolen from was not stated by the sheriff's office.