A Summerfield man was jailed Tuesday after being accused of stealing his grandfather’s riding lawn mower over the Memorial Day Weekend.
The victim told Marion County sheriff’s deputies that his grandson, 44-year-old Martin Anthony Hering, came to visit him this past Sunday and the next afternoon he noticed that his yellow and green John Deere lawn mower was missing, a sheriff’s office report states.
The victim said the keys to the riding mower and his mailbox that were kept in his garage also were missing. He told deputies he believed Hering took the mower “due to his drug addiction,” a sheriff’s office report states.
On Tuesday, deputies responded to a disturbance in the 5400 block of SE 145th Street and spoke with Hering, who said the other person involved in the incident already had left the residence. A detective sergeant then spoke with the homeowner, who said that Hering had brought a riding lawnmower to his residence. The homeowner showed the sergeant where it was located behind his workshop, the report says.
The homeowner said Hering “just showed up” with the mower. He said Hering initially said he was going to “do some jobs” with the mower but then then attempted to sell it to him, the report says.
The homeowner added that he received a text from Hering’s wife about the stolen lawnmower and said he would take it and return it to the victim. He said that while Hering was “distracted with snorting cocaine,” he removed the lawnmower from his truck and hid it behind his workshop, the report says.
After being read his rights, Hering admitted to stealing the lawnmower and said he was “stupid.” He said he pushed it down his grandfather’s driveway and loaded it into his truck, then drove around with it for a couple of days before going to the residence on SE 145th Street. He also said he tried to sell the mower to several different people over the phone to get money for drugs but denied attempting to sell it to the homeowner, the report says.
Hering, who also lives on SE 54th Court, also denied taking the keys to the mower and mailbox from his grandfather’s garage. He was then placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with larceny/grand theft, unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, dealing in stolen property and larceny/petit theft. He was being held on $18,000 bond and is due in court June 30 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.
