Man in stolen $60,000 forklift leaves 2.5-mile path of destruction, Florida cops say
A stolen $60,000 forklift caused an estimated $10,000 in damage when the driver rolled over everything he met along 2.5 miles of sidewalk in Florida, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
This includes mailboxes, fire hydrants and cable network boxes, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
It happened around 8 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, on North Ocean Shore Boulevard in Beverly Beach, about 70 miles south of Jacksonville. A caller reported someone driving “a large piece of construction equipment” on the sidewalk, officials said.
“When deputies arrived they stopped a transient male ... operating a JLG Lull alongside A1A,” the sheriff’s office said.
“The investigation found (he) entered a construction site and stole the $60,000 Lull and took it on a 2.5-mile trip south. (He) drove the Lull over two fire hydrants, over a Charter Communications fiber node, resident mailboxes and broke several sections of public sidewalk.”
A video posted on YouTube by the sheriff’s office shows the 56-year-old suspect was carrying a bike and other personal belongings raised in the air as he drove the forklift.
When questioned, the suspect said the vehicle had come from a rental business and was being taken to his boss at a construction site, the video shows.
Investigators did not say what the man intended to do with the machine, which is known as a telehandler.
He was arrested on charges of “grand theft, theft from a construction site, felony criminal mischief, and trespass on a construction site,” the sheriff’s office said.
“This career criminal decided to go on a joy ride with a large piece of construction equipment,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in the release.
“(He) would have caused more damage if he was not stopped and apprehended by deputies.”
The suspect “has an extensive criminal history” in Florida and Pennsylvania, including felony convictions in both states, officials said in the release.
This story was originally published August 9, 2022 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Man in stolen $60,000 forklift leaves 2.5-mile path of destruction, Florida cops say."