Police seek man accused of stealing Yeti coolers from hardware stores

Turner Ace Hardware owner says same man connected to multiple cooler thefts

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Turner Ace Hardware posted on Facebook to request for the public's help identifying a man accused of stealing high-end Yeti brand coolers, which cost hundreds of dollars, from several of its locations.

According to the owner, the same man has hit at least four different area Turner Ace Hardwares.

On Sunday, security footage captured a thief posing as a customer took one of the coolers from the Turner Ace Hardware at Atlantic and Hodges boulevards. 

Surveillance video showed the man finding a $350 Yeti cooler, throwing it in a cart and then heading toward the garden center. He casually walked past customers and employers, through the aisles, until he made his break. 

In the video, the man can be seen barging to the emergency exit, setting off the alarm, and then quickly hopping into a getaway van that was waiting with the doors open. 

"It really hurts. It's never fun to see what merchandise walk out the door," said Mitchell Turner, one of the owners of Turner Ace Hardware. "It's upsetting and it's frustrating."

Turner went over the video with News4Jax on Wednesday. It showed a middle-aged man, with tattoos on his arms, meandering around the mom-and-pop business. In the video, he's seen on his cellphone and appeared preoccupied. After minutes of chilling with the high-dollar cooler in the cart, he took the cooler and looked over his shoulder.

He then hopped in a white Honda Odyssey with a woman waiting in it and the two took off, the video showed. 

The owners said the same man has hit at least four different Turner Ace Hardwares. Security video from May 30 shows the same van and the same man taking taking a Yeti cooler from the Turner Ace Hardware on Marsh Landing Parkway in Jacksonville Beach.

That time, an employee spotted the man and tried to stop him.

"There is Joanne, about to jump in the van with him. Great employee," Turner said. 

Employees want the thefts to freeze, and they sent a cold message for those in search of a five-finger discount.

"To let them know we are not going to just sit back and let them walk out with our stuff. We're going to put them on Facebook. We're going to call guys like you. And we're going to see what we can do about it," Turner said. 

The owner also told News4Jax that he's gotten a number of calls since posting about the theft on Facebook, and he believes the same man is targeting other local hardware stores as well.

Anyone with information or who recognizes the man is asked to call police or the managers of Turner Ace Hardware. 


About the Author:

Lifetime Jacksonville resident anchors the 8 and 9 a.m. weekday newscasts and is part of the News4Jax I-Team.