On Sunday, March 5, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office got a call from Sapp’s Land & Excavating, Inc., located on Green Circle Parkway in Cottondale, regarding equipment that had been stolen from some of their semi-trucks.
Upon arrival, deputies determined that doors, headlights and air breathers were missing from several trucks, totaling about $180,000 in stolen parts.
Throughout the course of the investigation, it was determined that two suspects entered the property on March 4 and stole the items.
Investigators then learned that similar crimes had recently occurred in Bay County, as well.
JCSO investigators teamed up with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol to investigate this crime.
Together, the agencies identified two vehicles that were in both Bay County and Jackson County, near the crime scenes, at the time of each of the crimes.
Investigators then ran the vehicle tag numbers through the database and found that the owner of one of the vehicles, Reinel Hernandez Vigoa, had active felony warrants in Louisiana for similar crimes.
On Sunday, March 26, JCSO investigators and FHP investigators located the vehicles in the Panhandle, followed them to Tallahassee and conducted a traffic stop on them.
On Monday, March 27, Vigoa was arrested and interviewed about the crimes, and investigators were able to connect him to the crimes in both Jackson and Bay Counties.
Vigoa is being charged with Grand Theft over $100,000. This is still an ongoing investigation, and more arrests will be made in this case.
Sheriff Edenfield would like to thank JCSO investigators, Bay County investigators, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol, without whom this arrest may have never been made.
After further investigation, two other suspects have been identified in connection with this theft. Both Ramon Fernandez and Marcelino Mena Hernandez are being charged with Grand Theft over $100,000.
Fernandez is currently in the Bay County jail and will eventually be extradited to Jackson County to face charges. Hernandez is still at large and has an active warrant out for his arrest.
Anyone with information on Hernandez’s whereabouts should contact your local law enforcement agency immediately.
