A Sun City Center, Florida man was arrested on Sunday after allegedly trying to steal a generator being used to power a traffic light that was likely damaged during Hurricane Milton, according to law enforcement officials.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said 40-year-old Soyal Zapata-Dye was charged with third-degree grand theft during a state of emergency.
The sheriff’s office reported that TECO Energy workers provided photos of a man they stopped from stealing a generator placed on the corner of Sun City Center Boulevard and Stoneham Drive. Along with photos, the workers provided the sheriff’s office with the man’s license plate.
Deputies tracked down the address associated with the license plate and responded to the home with a K-9.
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Video footage captured by deputies and posted to Facebook by the sheriff’s office shows deputies arriving at the home and asking to speak with Zapata-Dye. At first, the man wanted for questioning refused to come out because, as he said, he was fixing dinner.
The deputies then approached him at the door of his home and placed him in handcuffs, telling Zapata-Dye he was just being detained.
One of the deputies told Zapata-Dye some people “might have witnessed” him doing some things he should not have done.
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“There’s a generator on 674 that I saw that…had no lock on it, and it was…it had no name on it, so I thought someone set it out,” Zapata-Dye was heard on police body camera footage telling the deputy.
Zapata-Dye was then arrested and placed inside a squad vehicle.
He has since been charged with third-degree grand theft during a state of emergency.
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