Thieves left a trail leading to a stolen barbeque grill trailer and the arrest of five people, including a man with three active warrants, Jimbob Bearden, according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post.
A barbeque grill trailer was marked for sale on Sleepy Hill Road in Lakeland, where the owner had chained it and flattened a tire as a precautionary measure against thieves.
“To be fair, this was not the most difficult crime to solve. Both the victim and the deputies simply followed the trailer tracks left behind,” the post said.
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Deputies followed the trail to a nearby mobile home, where they spoke with the homeowner. The homeowner was “100% cooperative,” and told deputies they could search anywhere on his property, the Sheriff’s Office said.
During the search, a deputy found a black tarp hanging between two trees, and behind it they encountered a man who said his name was Josh, the post said. “Josh,” who later turned out to be Jimbob, told deputies a man named Tommy asked him to help push the trailer behind bushes, but he refused to help, the Sheriff's Office said.
Jimbob, 32, pointed to a blue tarp in the backyard, where underneath deputies said they found the stolen trailer.
After grilling him, deputies discovered that Jimbob had three active Polk County warrants on a slew of drug charges, including possession of methamphetamine. Jimbob was arrested.
Deputies interviewed the other people at the scene and arrested Angelica Marie Sanchez, 26, and Denny Plummer, 36, on charges of possession of methamphetamine and paraphernalia.
So, who stole the trailer? Deputies said the thieves were identified as Tommy Parker, 45, and Daniel Parker Jr., 47.
The barbeque grill trailer was returned to its owner.
(We can't take credit for the hashtag.) The Sheriff's Office used it in the Facebook post, which you can see below:
Some thieves leave clues. Some thieves, thankfully, leave an actual, real-live trail to where they live. The theft of...
Posted by Polk County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, September 19, 2019
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