News

Actions

Thieves taking advantage of flood victims along the Withlacoochee River

Crime increases in Hernando County after Irma
Posted at 6:34 PM, Oct 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-20 18:34:19-04

People near the Withlacoochee River say thieves are taking advantage of flood victims.

Everyday Ty Williamson has to kayak through is yard to get to the street where his truck is parked. But now he can’t even drive his truck.

As if having to trudging through water everyday hasn’t been bad enough. Williamson says, "They’re scum, taking advantage of this."

Williamson says earlier this week someone cut his gas line to steal his fuel.

He said, "I saw a knife on the ground next to my truck." 

Williamson says he went to the sheriff’s office when he realized what happened. 

He said, "On the knife there was a bunch of partials, but it wasn’t enough to get an I.D."

We asked the sheriff’s office if there had been an increase in burglary, thefts, criminal mischief, or suspicious persons in flood areas along the Withlacoochee River.

They said their data shows no reports of burglaries, two reports of car burglaries, three thefts, two criminal mischiefs, and 17 reports of suspicious activities in the past month.  

As for Williamson, he hopes they’re able to find the guy who cut his gas line so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. "I don’t know if they’d really go away for a long time over it. Its probably petty theft or something but its a big inconvenience for me."