A Weirsdale man was arrested on a warrant Monday for allegedly stealing a woman’s phone and purse during a night out.
On Jan. 27, a deputy spoke with a woman about a theft incident, later found to involve 38-year-old Richard Allen Pettis, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. She stated that her cellphone and purse had either been stolen or lost on or about Jan. 16 while she and several friends went to various bars and restuarants.
That night, the group visited Oxford Downs poker room, located at 17966 U.S. Hwy. 301, Summerfield; the Dallas Inn Bar, located at 16860 U.S. Hwy. 301, Summerfield; then DJ & Gina’s Lounge, located at 16535 SE 99th Ave., Summerfield; and finally the Circle K at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 441 and 42. The owner of the phone and purse remembered having them at Oxford Downs but could not recall if she had them the rest of the evening, the report said.
At the end of the night, she looked for the items in the truck they had been in but could not find them. The group looked again the next morning but still did not find her stuff. She initially used the “Find My Phone” app to locate her cell at the Microtel, located at 1770 SW 134th St., Ocala, on Jan. 19, but they did not find anything, the report said.
On Jan. 27, she got a notification on her iPhone wristwatch about her phone being manipulated. The address on “Find My Phone” was 15190 SE 103rd Ave., Summerfield, so she drove over and decided to contact law enforcement, the report said.
The owner described her cell as a white iPhone 17 with a clear plastic case valued at $1,700. Her purse was black leather with a zipper on the top valued at $20. Inside was a black leather wallet holding a silver credit card that belonged to her boyfriend, a cheetah-print Wells Fargo credit card, her driver’s license, a Sam’s Club card and an insurance card, the report said.
She also told the deputy that the location ping for her phone was in front of the property.. The deputy went over to the residence to see a black Chrysler 200 parked in the driveway with the engine still running. He looked inside and observed four or five cellphones in the center console cup holder, one of which matched the description of the missing phone, the report said.
Several people in a trailer on the left side of the property advised that they did not know who the vehicle belonged to or why it was parked there. The deputy checked the tag and learned it was registered to Pettis, who the residents denied knowing. A short while later, one of the residents stated the vehicle had been towed there, and instructions were given to keep it running until repairs could be made, the report said.
Eventually, Pettis spoke to deputies over the phone so he could confirm the situation with the vehicle. But when told about the stolen phone, he claimed all of them were either found or bought. He had not been given the description of the phone in question yet claimed he found it two weeks ago between the road and dumpsters near Starbucks and Long Horn in The Villages, the report said.
The owner of the phone was subsequently asked to come to the scene to use her app and confirm if it was truly her phone in Pettis’s vehicle. As she got closer, the distance shrunk on the app. The deputy ultimately determined that the vehicle would be taken to the sheriff’s office evidence department as a result, the report said.
On Jan. 29, deputies got a search warrant for the vehicle and confirmed the owner’s stolen phone was in the cup holder. Clear plastic baggies of fentanyl, totaling 6.2 grams, were found in the driver’s door and a black backpack in the backseat. Multiple pieces of paraphernalia were located, as well, including various small plastic baggies, multiple scales, a cut plastic straw, a counterweight for the scales and a glass pipe, the report said.
So, on Feb. 1, the owner was given her cellphone back. She believed the last place she saw her purse was inside her boyfriend’s 2026 Dodge Ram while they were at the Dallas Inn Bar, the report said.
Pettis was found in Summerfield on Monday afternoon and arrested on a warrant charging him with trafficking in fentanyl (4 grams or more), grand theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and burglary of an unoccupied conveyance (unarmed). He was booked at the Marion County Jail without bond.
He was also arrested in June 2017 when he was stopped in a stolen car from Texas.