A pest management employee has been arrested after allegedly ripping off a customer of 19 years.
Darrin Smith, 54, of Wildwood, was arrested Friday on two counts of theft following an interview at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office’s Public Safety Building at Pinellas Plaza in The Villages.
In May, the woman had placed $4,000 in $100 bills in her nightstand and discovered that $800 was missing shortly after Smith had been spraying in the bedroom. She had previously noticed cash missing from the drawer.
Smith was scheduled to return to spray on Aug. 26 and the woman left six $20 bills in the same drawer of the nightstand. After Smith had sprayed the bedroom and moved to a back porch, the woman found that $40 was missing from the drawer of the nightstand. She confronted Smith, who reached into his pocket and returned the $40 after initially denying he had taken it, the arrest report said.
A criminal history check revealed Smith had no prior arrests for theft. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $2,500 bond.
