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A Warsaw man was arrested on several theft charges.
Trent Carlton Harris, 42, of 3723 N. Barbee Road, Warsaw, is charged with theft, a level 5 felony; retail theft, a level 5 felony; and theft, a level 6 felony.
He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 2 p.m. May 22 on a $50,000 preliminary bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on March 27 the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office received a call in reference to the theft of a excavator from a residence. A KCSO deputy responded to the residence and talked with a man, who said he was acquainted with Harris from work Harris had previously done for the man. The man also said he was looking to purchase a used excavator and was contacted by Harris on or about March 24.
Harris told the man he had a friend who had located an excavator the man might be interested in purchasing. The man said Harris and the friend drove the man to the location where the excavator was. The man also said he recorded some of his interaction with his cell phone.
The man told Harris and the friend the excavator was what he wanted and he would need time to pull funds together to purchase it. The man said the total price was $50,000 for the excavator. The man said he gave the money to Harris and his friend.
The man said he used the excavator for a couple small projects.
On March 27, the man said he left the residence where the excavator was parked and when he returned, it was missing. He said he knew that type of excavator has GPS tracking, so he contacted the retailer and they told him the excavator was located at a retailer in the Fort Wayne area.
The deputy contacted the retail merchant and spoke with an employee. The employee said that particular excavator was rented by an individual for two days. After the two days expired, the employee tried to contact the original renter multiple times and was unable to and no arrangements were made to return the excavator. The business then used the GPS tracking device to locate the excavator in Kosciusko County. The business had the excavator repossessed.
