TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A trio from South Florida are behind bars for allegedly stealing compressed cardboard bales from a Publix early Thursday morning, police said.
According to the Port St. Lucie Police Department, the men stole several pallets of recyclable cardboard from a Publix located in the 9100 block of US 1. Police said the cardboard is typically sold to recycling companies.
Around 1 a.m., the Stuart Police Department conducted a traffic stop at Luckhardt Street and Federal Highway, where three men were located traveling in a white box truck.
The trio admitted to stealing 11 bales of compacted cardboard from Palm Bay. They also told officers they then traveled to Port Saint Lucie “where they were interrupted during an additional theft” before heading into Martin County for another theft.
The driver of the truck, identified as Juan Garcia Tamayo, 55, was arrested for attempted grand theft and on an open warrant for theft out of Martin County.
Police said the passengers, identified as Yuriel Garcia Vega, 34, and Ramon Garcia Jerez, 58, were charged with attempted grand theft and resisting arrest without violence. Garcia Jerez refused to get out of the truck and tried to flee officials out of the passenger side of the car before he was eventually arrested.
