“A victim stated a large amount of rebar and 19 pieces of scaffolding were taken from the side of a business. An employee for the business recalled seeing a silver Nissan pickup truck exiting the north end of the business parking lot and the pickup had scaffolding frames in the bed of the truck. From two incidents, about 2,500 pounds of rebar valued at $1,500 and 38 scaffolding frames with a value of $5,700 were missing. The total value of all the stolen items was $7,200. During my investigation, I used LeadsOnline to learn of a suspect who drives a silver Nissan pickup truck, had done a lot of scrapping, including a large amount of rebar and metal. While speaking with the subject he admitted to taking rebar he saw by a dumpster. He denied taking any other metal, including scaffolding frames. He pointed out an area within a few feet of the dumpster and claimed this was where he found the rebar. I showed him examples of the scaffolding that was taken, and he denied taking any items that looked like it. Using LeadsOnline I discovered there were 5 specific transactions that involved a large amount of rebar and/ or scaffolding frames. I saw clear photos of scaffolding, exactly like the scaffolding I showed the subject earlier in the day but he denied, in the back of the pickup truck. The subject was arrested and was transported to the police station for an interview. During an interview post-Miranda, he admitted to taking the metal frames which were not by the dumpster. He freely admitted to two instances of going to the business for items, but when he was shown pictures of five different truckloads of rebar he admitted it was possible he got items from the business on five different occasions. He was charged with two violations, one charge for each case number/affidavit, two counts of grand theft valued at $300 or more but less than $5,000.”
Det. Richard Giaccone
Port St. Lucie Police Department
Florida