LAKE CITY, Fla. -- When Columbia County Sheriff's Office deputies spotted a man riding a scooter carrying two truck tool boxes and two ladders they knew something was amiss.
Police stopped 49-year-old Wayne Rieley riding the scooter on Northeast James Avenue Tuesday. Rieley was driving a scooter while carrying two ladders and two truck tool boxes.
As police neared Rieley they noticed a second man, 43-year-old Paul Bullard, "walking rapidly away."
When police stopped both men for questioning, Rieley threw the items off his scooter and told police he "did not have anything to do with it," according to a news release from Columbia County Sheriff's Office Public Information Sergeant Ed Seifert.
Deputies say the men are charged with stealing the truck tool boxes and the ladders from the Hacker Sign Company. Bullard was fired from the company recently and had knowledge of where the items were stored, Seifert said.
Police contacted the owner of Hacker Sign, who took possession of the over $500 worth of stolen items.
Both Rieley and Bullard were arrested and charged with burglary, grand theft and trespassing. Both their bonds have been set at $31,000.
First Coast News