JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A tip that led police to a stripped and chopped up trailer stolen last week from PRI Productions also led to what officers called the largest cache of stolen property in years.
Detectives serving a search warrant on a property on Spearing Street, on Jacksonville's Eastside, Monday night not only found the video trailer valued at $150,000, but hundreds of stolen commercial items taken from across the city. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office brought in a crane to help remove some of the items found hidden behind a metal fence and trucks arrived to carry off all the stolen loot.
"There are a lot of items to be inventoried and reviewed and compared to reports because there are a lot of items that were reported stolen," said Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Lt. Ron Norse. "Some did not have serial numbers, too, so we are trying to see if there are any reports related to that item description and see if we can get it returned back to the victim."
About a dozen victims of theft showed up to pick up their items and thanked police for getting their items back.
"There is still a lot more stuff out there," said Mark Hutchinson of Chaddock Refrigeration. "I am just proud JSO is doing what they did."
Police arrested Guy George, 33, and James Walker, 25, on multiple charges of grand theft. Both have extensive criminal records, ranging from burglary to drug possession to aggravated assault.
The recovery operation began after citizen reported seeing the white pickup truck that was seen in surveillance video towing the trailer away from PRI's facility on Kings Avenue last Thursday morning. On Monday, officers found a pickup matching the description in the driveway of a home on Spearing Street and the trailer was inside a fenced lot nearby.
PRI's owner, who came to see his trailer destroyed,
"It is absolutely crazy, just walking around and seeing all the stuff that belongs to other people," said Randy Goodwin. "To work that hard, maybe they should just get a job. Because they really worked really hard to do what they did."
Search warrants were issued for the property and officers said they found George asleep in the back of the house. He was arrested and booked into the Duval County jail.
According to the arrest report, George is also a suspect in the theft of a picnic table and trailer from another business where his white pickup truck was seen on surveillance video.
PRI said someone came around the back of its building, broke the lock and hitched the trailer onto the back of the pickup. And it's likely the thief didn't know just how much the mobile TV screen costs.
“Brand new, that thing was worth around $350,000, maybe $400,000,” Goodwin said. “In its present value, with all the equipment in it, it's probably still around $150,000.”
The thief was caught briefly on surveillance video around 1 a.m. Thursday. It showed a white pickup pulled into PRI's parking lot, the crook gets out and minutes later you can see him driving down Kings Avenue towing the trailer behind.
The property where the stolen equipment was found was the scene of the death of a man man with disabilities.in 2013.
Cecil Hepler, 61, a relative of George, couldn't get out of the burning house Jimmy Jackson was arrested and charged with arson and murder.
Channel 4 was involved in helping get volunteers to clean up and clear the property for the family.