More than $126,000 worth of heavy equipment that was stolen from two states was found in Putnam County and two men have been arrested, authorities said.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said he received a tip that one of the pieces of equipment was located at a business at the corner of Grand Avenue and Oconee Street in Eatonton. Upon arrival at the scene, the above-mentioned Kubota skid steer was parked out front and the serial number on it matched one that was reported stolen in the city of Atlanta in March 2021, valued at $85,000, Sills said.
The business is owned by Quirino Boles, Sills said, noting when asked that the business does not have a name on record. While locating the Kubota skid steer, law enforcement officers also found at Boles’ place: >> A Caterpillar angle-broom machine, valued $9,333, which was stolen in Texas in 2021; >> a Caterpillar grapple bucket, valued $5,522, also reported stolen in Texas in 2021; the serial number on this article of equipment had been removed; >> a Takeuchi loader bucket, valued $1,500, with the serial number removed; >> a 35-foot PJ gooseneck flatbed trailer, valued $25,000, also reported as stolen in Texas in 2021.
“Mr. Boles said he didn’t know anything about any of the equipment, said it was ‘just there,’” Sills said.
All the equipment was recovered except the gooseneck trailer. Sills said they didn’t know at the time if it was stolen, so they photographed the trailer, its serial number and license, and research revealed it also was stolen.
“We returned to Boles’ business the next day to recover it, but alas it had been taken away and we have yet to determine where it went,” the Sheriff said.
The first person to be arrested in the case was Cortez Bashar Dennis, 39, of Turtle Cove Trailway, Monticello, on Nov. 16. Sills said Dennis was operating the machines that were reported stolen. He was charged with one count of felony theft by receiving stolen property and two counts of criminal use of an article with an altered identification mark. Dennis was released on a $15,000 property bond.
Warrants were issued for Boles, and he turned himself in Nov. 21, at the sheriff’s office. Quirino Voncell Boles, 41, of Hudson Dr., Eatonton, was charged with four counts of felony theft by receiving stolen property and two counts of criminal use of an article with an altered identification mark. He was released on a $30,000 property bond.