Deputies have tracked down a suspect with a long history of stealing from Lowe’s home improvement stores.
Richard Lee McCreary, 56, of Fruitland Park, was taken into custody earlier this month on Sumter County warrants charging him with grand theft and criminal mischief.
This past August, McCreary attempted to steal five nail guns from the Lowe’s store on U.S. Hwy. 441 in Lady Lake, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. McCreary had taken the nail guns, worth $1,175, to an area near a chain link fence in the garden center. He was using a device to cut a portion of the fence when he was approached by store personnel, who had been observing him on surveillance. He fled on foot.
An asset protection manager at the store recognized McCreary from previous encounters. She told deputies that McCreary has stolen items for the Lady Lake store and other Lowe’s location, but has evaded capture.
McCreary had been arrested in 2018 after stealing a chainsaw and cutting a hole in a security fence at the Lowe’s at Trailwinds Village in Wildwood.
He is currently free on $3,000 bond.
