How to deal with vehicle theft

Possibly off-topic, and I'm sorry for that. But you guys have never let me down before, and this is sort of a mini personal "shtf" I guess.

Yesterday my truck was stolen from the parking lot at work (big-ish aerospace corp). Long story short the thief was caught by company security returning for his drop off car (in the same exact clothes he wore to steal my truck!) and arrested by the local PD. He claims he is innocent, but we have him on video stealing my truck, returning to the scene and then trying (briefly) to escape from the police. So he will probably be going to jail.

My truck is still missing, but I am sure it will turn up minus most of the valuable goodies (winch/bumpers, ham radios, tools, survival gear, possibly even axles and air lockers). Hopefully it comes back drivable and I can fix it up, but I have enough of an emergency fund to go buy another truck if needed. I hope it doesn't come to that, but it is what it is.

I realize that car thieves are not in their line of "work" because they have lots of assets and spare cash, and I know you cant get blood from a turnip. However, when this jerk is convicted will he have any legal obligation to cover the cost of damages? I could sue I guess (CA small claims limit would cover it, barely), but that would be a hassle. How is this handled in most cases? I realize the perp likely wont be paying a dime and I'm prepared to cover the loss out of pocket, but what is the usual process in cases like this? Does part of the sentence involve an obligation to cover damages? Do most victims sue, or just forget about it?

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How to deal with vehicle theft