TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Crawfordville man has been arrested in the theft of jet skis and a jet ski trailer from a Tallahassee dealership.
Jason L. Earls, 34, is accused of having engaged in grand theft of items valued at more than $20,000 and less than $100,000, according to a complaint signed by a Tallahassee Police Department investigator.
Earls illegally removed two Yamaha Jet Skis and one Triton Double Jet Ski Trailer from Redhills Power Sports, the investigator said in the document.
A Redhill's employee reported on May 5, 2017, that the items were among several discovered missing from a building overnight.
Investigators reviewed camera footage from Redhills and other nearby businesses and saw a black pickup truck leaving the parking lot with a double jet ski trailer and two jet skis.
But the video was not detailed enough for investigators to identify the pickup's make and model.
On June 29, 2017, a Leon County Sheriff's Office deputy visited a home about a civil matter and spotted two newer jet skis on a trailer in the wood line.
Checking the vehicle identification numbers, he found that the items had been stolen from Redhill's Power Sports.
When deputies spoke with a resident at the home, they were told that an acquaintance, who the resident identified as Earls, asked to park the jet skis there the day before.
According to a probable cause document, the resident explained to deputies that Earls had stopped by with the jet skis (the resident noting that they were being pulled by Earls' black pickup truck) and asked if the residents wanted to go riding on them.
After riding them for a few hours, Earls towed them back to the resident's home where he asked to leave them for the night.
Earls, already in jail for an arrest in Wakulla County, declined to speak to an investigator.
On Monday, he was taken into custody and was brought to the Leon County Jail to face charges in Tallahassee.
MOBILE USERS: Download our WTXL news app on your Apple and Android devices for the latest from South Georgia and North Florida. Also, download our WTXL Weather Now app for Apple and Android devices to get the latest local weather wherever you go.
