Man arrested in scrap metal theft

Columbia County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Tarveine Scott

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – A White Springs man was arrested Wednesday on a charge of grand theft in connection with the theft of scrap metal from a construction site in northern Columbia County.

Norfolk Southern Railroad is conducting railroad maintenance on the railroad trestles on U.S. 41 North at the Columbia County-Hamilton County line.

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The job foreman found that nearly 200 pounds of scrap metal and steel was stolen over the weekend from the construction site, deputies said.

A deputy went to various metals recyclers in Columbia County to investigate and found some of the stolen materials at two scrap yards. The scrap metal was verified to have belonged to Norfolk Southern, deputies said.

The deputy determined that Tarveine Scott, 50, was the person who sold the stolen material to the recyclers. Scott was arrested at his home by the White Springs Police Department.

He was booked into the Columbia County Detention Facility with bail set at $15,000.

The value of the stolen materials is estimated to be more than $5,000.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office said it is continuing to investigate the case to determine if Scott has been involved in previous thefts from the same construction site.