Photos for Headline Surfer® / DELTONA, Fla. -- Deputies gave an assist to investigators in Hillsborough County two days before Thanksgiving after a group of theft suspects drove a stolen U-Haul truck full of stolen appliances from Tampa to a residence in Deltona, according to a spokesman for Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson.
Hillsborough deputies investigating a break-in at 13523 Staghorn Road near Citrus Park determined that appliances taken from the home had been moved to Avon Park in a stolen U-Haul truck.
Working undercover, deputies tracked the truck from Avon Park, through Highlands and Polk counties, to a Home Depot store in Orlando, where the truck's two occupants were joined by the other two.
"When Hillsborough deputies sent word that the truck had reached a house in Deltona, Volusia deputies went there to greet the four suspects," VCSO spokesman Andrew Gant told Headline Surfer®.
"When Hillsborough deputies sent word that the truck had reached a house in Deltona, Volusia deputies went there to greet the four suspects," VCSO spokesman Andrew Gant told Headline Surfer®.
Deputies from Hillsborough then tailed the truck to a house in Deltona, where they watched the men, plus the home's occupant, move scores of appliances into the garage.
The Hillsborough deputies, working with the VCSO, then conducted a search of the house and garage. It was there they found 32 stolen appliances including ovens, refrigerators, washers, dryers and dishwashers.
The four men who were arrested Nov. 25, at the house and charged with grand theft as well as an assortment of other charges, were Alexander McKinnie, 28, of Orlando; Adrain Higgins, 26, of Deltona; Evan Parkes, 19, of Winter Park; and Jermaine Johnson, 37, of Orlando. All four were booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.
The arrests emanating from the household appliance thefts in Hillsborough County comes in at No. 62 in the HeadlineSurfer.com countdown of the top 100 stories of 2024.
RECAP
The HeadlineSurfer.com Countdown of the Top 100 Local Stories of 2014... <
95. Holly Hill boy stands tall with biggest catch of his life in NSB fishing tourney: 2-foot redfish
The Headline Surfer® Countdown of the Top 100 Stories of 2014, is sponsored by Edgewater Towing & Myron's Auto Service of Edgewater, FL. 