A 23-year-old Ocala man is facing a felony grand theft charge after a construction company accused him of stealing a generator.
On Wednesday, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office corporal responded to a construction site located on SW 150th Court in Ocala in reference to a theft incident. Upon arrival, the corporal observed that the incident location appeared to be in the early stages of construction with only the concrete slab and block walls erected, according to the arrest report.
The corporal made contact with the general manager of the company overseeing the construction project. The manager advised that between 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 a.m. the following morning, a red Generac WheelHouse 5550 Watt generator, valued at $1,000, had been stolen. In addition, the corporal noted that numerous black trash bags containing household garbage had been placed in a dumpster located at the construction site.
The report stated that during a search of the trash bags, a piece of mail regarding a toll violation was found, and it was addressed to an individual located in the 14000 block of SW 24th Place.
The corporal observed shoeprints near the dumpster, leading to the area of the property where the generator had been stolen, and tire tracks were also spotted in the area.
At around 5:25 p.m. on Wednesday, the corporal responded to the address listed on the piece of mail recovered from the dumpster. Outside of the residence in question, the corporal made contact with a man, identified as Sylvester Leon Morman, according to the report.
Morman admitted to dumping the trash bags at the construction site at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday. He further admitted to finding a generator “stashed in the woods,” and he added that he brought it back to his residence. The report stated that Morman then briefly went inside his home before returning to the corporal with the victim’s red generator.
After being read his Miranda rights, Morman stated that he saw the generator “sitting by (a) well in the woods” behind a home that was under construction, and he loaded it into the back of a vehicle before bringing it back to his home. The report stated that he was also aware that the incident location was a construction site because he had recently “(done) masonry work” there.
In the report, the corporal noted that a permit box was observed at the incident location, which warned that the area is a construction site and trespassers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Morman was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail. He was released the following morning after posting a $2,500 bond, and he is being charged with grand theft from a posted construction site.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.