If any fears from 2018 should make their way into 2019, let this be among them:
Florida men are working in teams.
A semi-truck driver entered a diner near Tampa to grab a bite to eat. A few minutes later, after learning the establishment had been closed since 5PM, he exited the highway diner to find the trailer attached to his truck gone. It is unclear how long the truck driver was away from his rig.
Thieves had made off with a truckload of cases of Patron tequila. Police responded to calls around midnight, according to a local Fox affiliate.
“When he comes outside, that trailer is gone. His cab is there, but his trailer is gone,” said Danny Alvarez, a spokesperson for Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. “So, he calls the police, we respond. We send out aviation. We send out dogs, and we were looking.”
The four alleged thieves, Vidal Estrada, Lemuel Escobar, Humberto Ramirez and Alberto Obaya, were found 11 miles away in nearby Thonotosassa. By 12:30, the foursome had moved 20 cases into a truck registered to one of them. All four have been charged with burglary and theft
“Since it was right there near the highway,” said Alvarez, “that truck could have easily gotten on the highway and headed north, south, east, or west and would have been out of our county in no amount of time.”