By Erika Hernandez
15 Oct 2024, 7:34 PM EDT
Authorities reported that A Sun City Center, Florida, man was arrested Sunday after allegedly trying to steal a generator that was used to power a traffic light. which was likely damaged during Hurricane Milton.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Soyal Zapata-Dye, 40, was charged with third-degree grand larceny during a state of emergency.
The sheriff’s office said TECO Energy workers provided photos of a man they stopped from stealing a generator located at the corner of Sun City Center Boulevard and Stoneham Drive.
Along with the photographs, workers provided the sheriff’s office with the man’s license plate.
Officers tracked down the address associated with the license plate and responded to the home with a K-9.
Video footage captured by deputies and posted to Facebook by the sheriff’s office shows deputies arriving at the home and asking to speak with Zapata-Dye. At first, the man wanted for questioning refused to come out because, he said, he was preparing dinner.
The officers approached him at the door of his home, handcuffed him and told Zapata-Dye that they were simply detaining him.
One of the officers told Zapata-Dye that some people “could have witnessed him” doing some things he shouldn’t have done.
“There’s a generator on 674 that I saw that… didn’t have a lock, and it was… didn’t have a name on it, so I thought someone had put it in,” Zapata-Dye was heard telling the officer on police body camera footage. .
Subsequently, Zapata-Dye was arrested and placed inside a police vehicle.
He has since been charged with third-degree grand larceny during a state of emergency.
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