BUNNELL, Fla. — The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 70-year-old Palm Coast man on felony charges after he allegedly stole a disabled jet ski trailer from a county park and began stripping it for parts.
Deputies responded on Aug. 30 after a trailer was reported stolen from Herschel King Park in Palm Coast. The owner said he had broken an axle a week earlier, got permission to leave it there while sourcing parts, then found it missing when he returned.
Surveillance video from the park showed a Jeep pickup arriving the night of Aug. 26 with an empty trailer, loading the victim’s trailer onto it, and leaving.
With help from the Real Time Crime Center and an automatic license plate reader (ALPR), deputies traced the vehicle and identified the suspect as Jonah Depeters, 70, of Palm Coast.
When deputies visited Depeters’ home in Palm Coast on Sept. 2, they said he was the only one with access to the Jeep seen on camera. Investigators found the stolen trailer in pieces in his backyard; Depeters told them he thought it was abandoned because its license plate had been removed.
On Sept. 3, Depeters was arrested on one count of grand theft ($750–$5,000) and one count of criminal mischief (damage over $1,000). He was booked at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and later released on a $5,000 bond.
Sheriff Rick Staly credited ALPR technology and the Real Time Crime Center for solving the case in under 72 hours, showcasing how these tools quickly recover stolen property and enhance community safety.
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