Burglars thought their late-night heist at ArtisTree’s North Sarasota shop would be easy. Disable the security cameras, cut the burglar bars, break a window, hack a hole through the wall then race like hell. Steal a truck and trailer, load up three mowers, grab 50 pieces of equipment and speed through the night to Miami. There, siphon the gas out of the truck, dump the truck in a vacant lot, drive to a house to unload the mowers and equipment and go to bed.
Only one problem. The burglars didn’t know the truck was equipped with a GPS system. Thanks to ArtisTree’s GPS info and video footage, various processes such as fingerprinting were warranted, a rarity since vehicles and lawn equipment are stolen so frequently. Detective Diana Darby with the Criminal Investigations Section of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office kept ArtisTree in the loop the entire day, telling ArtisTree Account Executive Jeremy Lepper how lucky ArtisTree was to get many of the items back.
ArtisTree Fleet Manager Paul Hurlock and Operations Manager Mike Casper drove down to Miami to meet with authorities and retrieve the stolen items valued at $80,500. All items except for the equipment pieces have been located. One man has been arrested. More news is expected. “It’s incredible that they arrived in Miami at 1 a.m. and an arrest was made by noon the same day,” said Lepper.
It all adds up. A 12-hour day for Hurlock and Casper to bring ArtisTree’s stolen property back home in torrential rains. Lost work time for ArtisTree crews. New equipment purchases to replace what hasn’t been recovered yet. Re-securing ArtisTree’s north shop.
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