Detectives, acting undercover as buyers, arrested a man selling a stolen concrete saw on Craig’s List. A man who was with him was arrested on drug charges.
The owner of Island Touch Construction called the Sheriff’s Office Thursday to report a former employee had stolen his Makita concrete saw. He told Detective Patrick Crozier 23 year old David Gilliland borrowed the saw and then didn’t return it. He said he tried repeatedly over several months to get it back, but Gilliland always put him off. He said he was on Craig’s List and saw the tool for sale, being sold by a man called “David” who lives around the 95 mile marker in the Florida Keys. He said he knew it was his because he’d made a few obvious modifications to the saw.
Detective Francisco Gaete found the saw on Craig’s List as well, being sold by “David” for $500.00, much lower than its actual value. Posing as a potential buyer for the saw, he began negotiating for it, eventually settling on a price of $450.00. He arranged to meet “David” on Friday, at a gas station at the 106 mile marker at 9 pm. When Gilliland showed up, he had the saw with him. It was positively identified as the one belonging to the victim.
Gilliland was arrested and charged with grand theft and dealing in stolen property. He was also charged with an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court. He was taken to jail.
When he showed up on the scene to meet with Detective Gaete, another man was in the vehicle with him. During the course of the encounter, detectives searched both men’s pockets for officer safety reasons. In 21 year old Kyle Gross’ pocket, they found 22.75 grams of Marijuana, packaged in eight plastic bags, as if for individual sale. Gross was also arrested, charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He also was taken to jail.
