WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) — A man has been arrested for the theft of the Rock the Dock equipment and other items from a Panacea home.
Tyler Metcalf, 24, was arrested by the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office for the burglaries of a Panacea home and a storage facility used by a non-profit organization to store items used for the annual Rock the Dock Fishing Tournament.
On Feb. 21, a resident who owns a home on Otter Lake Road in Panacea reported a home burglary.
According to WCSO, Metcalf went through a backdoor, pulled a home alarm panel off of the wall, and stole three spear guns, 15 fishing rods, a Craftsman Screw Gun, a brass propeller, three Sherwood Magnum Diving suits, and black vests in a large black canvass bag.
A couple days later, Panacea Waterfronts, a non-profit organization, reported that a storage building they used to store event items had been burglarized.
Multiple items had been stolen including a digital scale with LED display, a generator, four tents, a flat screen television, a fryer, yellow wagon carts, and multiple reels and rods.
The items stolen were those used for the annual Rock the Dock Fishing Tournament in Panacea, including the reels and rods to be given to children, the electronic scale used to weigh the fish, and the electronic display used to display information to anglers and visitors.
Detectives later found two yellow cart wagons containing a digital scale with LED display, a generator, and a flat screen television stolen from the non-profit organization from a residential yard on Otter Lake Road in Panacea.
While there, a witness told detectives that while working at a home on 158 Otter Lake Road, he found numerous fishing rod and reels and other fishing equipment that he believed to be stolen.
When they arrived at the home, they made contact Metcalf, who initially denied having any information regarding the stolen items, but later stated he had bought all of them from another person for $80.
Metcalf admitted that the yellow carts had been in his backyard the previous evening, but said they were removed during the early morning hours of Feb. 28.
During further questioning, Metcalf admitted to committing the two burglaries and stated he had acted alone.
He was taken to the Wakulla County Jail and is being charged with two counts of burglary, two counts of criminal mischief, and two counts of theft.
Detectives found over $6,000 worth of stolen property during the two burglaries.
