An Ocklawaha man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly stealing a bank bag from a bar in Belleview.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Fox Crossing Tavern located at 10910 E. Hwy. 25 in reference to a grand theft. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with the victim, who advised that a customer, 67-year-old Gary L. Carrico, stole a bank bag containing $750 from behind the bar and left with it, the report stated. The victim captured the theft with the business’s security cameras. The video shows Carrico walking around the bar table to where customers are not allowed. Carrico grabbed a blue bank bag located on the inside of the bar table, placed the bag inside the front of his jeans, covered it with his shirt, then returned to his chair. He was then seen making a goodbye gesture to the victim before exiting the bar in the security video.
While deputies were about to look for Carrico, he returned to the incident location and immediately handed deputies a blue bank bag, stating that he found the bag outside of the business and was just returning it to the victim.
As Carrico was being placed under arrest, he initially stated that he was only joking when deputies confronted him about the theft being captured on camera. However, he still denied taking the bank bag and money, stating he found it outside before he left the business. Carrico did not have an answer when asked why he did not return the bag back to the victim before leaving. When deputies returned the bank bag to the victim, the victim stated only $40Â was recovered and $310 is still missing. Carrico denied taking any money out of the bag.
Carrico was transported to Marion County Jail. Bond was set at $2,000.
