- January 13, 2025
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A 56-year-old man was arrested for stealing bleachers at Wadsworth Park after a county employee caught him loading the bleachers into a van.
"By working hard, working smart and working together, we collectively were able to locate and arrest a felony suspect in a little over two hours," Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney said, according to a news release.
The incident occurred at about 9:12 a.m. Sept. 6. The bleachers were worth about $600 each, according to the news release.
When the county employee confronted the thief, the thief drove off, but the employee gave emergency dispatchers a detailed description of the van.
The Flagler Beach Police Department dispatched an officer, and a Flagler County Sheriff's Office analyst identified the van's license plate number using License Plate Reader technology.
A deputy found the van at the John's Auto scrap yard on U.S. 1 in Bunnell at about 11:17 a.m., with two bleachers still inside.
The county employee identified the van's driver, Ronald Thomas Schmitt, as the thief.
Investigators found that Schmitt had previously stolen four other park bleachers. Those were recovered undamaged, but the two stolen on Sept. 6 had been cut up. Schmitt was arrested.
