Man allegedly uses front-end loader to steal $58,000 of equipment from nursery
Published at | Updated at
The following is a news release from the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office.
On Oct. 10, detectives from the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office served an arrest warrant on Hunter David Dean, age 21 of Hailey, for felony burglary following an investigation into a theft on Sept. 24 or 25 at Webb Nursery, located south of Bellevue.
The investigation showed that Dean, a former employee of the nursery, allegedly used a lockbox code to gain entry into the main shop and prevented lights from being seen from the outside by placing large objects over the windows.
Detectives believe Dean then used a front-end loader to lift a large Snap-On toolbox onto a truck or trailer sometime between the close of business on Sept. 24 and the early morning of Sept. 25. Numerous high priced tools and mechanic equipment were also taken for a total loss value of approximately $58,000.
Dean is currently in custody of the Twin Falls County Jail on related charges. Most of the stolen property has been recovered.
Blaine County Sheriff Steve Harkins commented, “I want to commend the excellent police work and multi-agency cooperation in this case. Our detectives working with Idaho State Probation and Parole, and detectives from both the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office and Minidoka County Sheriff’s Office were able to recover a substantial loss for one of our local businesses.”