HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County deputies stumbled upon a $10,000 stolen lawnmower after going to a home in looking for a wanted person.
The lawnmower was stolen from Alonso High school last month after someone broke through locks and took it.
"I was on the Internet, I just kept googling and doing searches on sites where people sell mowers myself to see if I could find it,” said Landy Faedo, the Baseball coach at Alonso High School.
He says it was bought with money students and parents worked hard to raise. He uses the lawnmower to keep the grass short on the baseball field so the kids can play a good game.
Faedo says he’s received word it was found.
"The very next day we were cutting, we did a tuneup and didn’t oil change and got her ready to go,” he said.
Hillsborough County deputies responded to a home in Town N’ Country about an unrelated case when they found the mower strapped to a trailer in the driveway.
"Usually, when we can find one item, we can find more,” said Cristal Nunez, a public information officer at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
That seems to be exactly what happened in this case - several ATV’s reported stolen May 7 were found in the backyard along with a few motorbikes, tires and rims.
So far, it seems no one has been arrested. Nunez says it can be hard to pinpoint who actually stole the items.
"We have to not only find them we have to prove that whoever we find in possession of them actually stole them,” she said.
She adds if you ever see items being sold online that seem too good to be true - report them so deputies can investigate and see if it's legitimate Plus write down the VIN or serial numbers to big ticket items so you can prove you’re the owner if they are stolen.
