A Leesburg man who admitted to stealing lumber from a construction site is apparently building a barn in his back yard.
Walter Joseph Tomon, 49, of 41437 Sunset Drive, was charged with grand theft from a posted construction site, a third-degree felony. He’s being held without bond in the Lake County Jail due to the fact he was already out on bond for a prior arrest for possession of narcotics and tampering with evidence.
At around 1 a.m. Tuesday, a Lake County sheriff’s detective who was stopped on the side of the road writing notes about another case saw a white truck drive into a construction site. The truck emerged from the site a short time later loaded with plywood and two-by-fours. The detective followed the truck, which took off at a high speed. The truck eventually got away, but the detective managed to get a tag number, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The detective gave the tag number to a deputy, who matched it to Tomon. The deputy went to the construction site and spoke with the superintendent, who said the 20 pieces of plywood and several two-by-fours that were taken was valued at around $400, the report said.
The deputy responded to Tomon’s residence on Tuesday afternoon and saw he was building a barn in the back yard. The deputy spoke with Tomon and told him he was there investigating the theft of the lumber. Tomon admitted he had taken them from the construction site during the early morning hours, according to the report.
Tomon was arrested and taken to the jail. He is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on July 25.
