Holmes Beach police filed capias requests Aug. 6 for potential third-degree felony charges against two Umatilla men, aged 30 and 35, for the alleged theft of items worth $750-$5,000.
The requests were filed as a result of an Aug. 5 call from Frontier Communications in which the business reported a cable reel trailer had been stolen from 5102 Gulf Drive. The total value of the trailer and a lock attached was $4,024.99.
An Apple AirTag in the trailer was pinging to the address of a Frontier employee in Umatilla.
The Holmes Beach Police Department contacted the Umatilla Police Department, which located the trailer at the address.
The UPD then connected an HBPD officer with the two Umatilla men for a phone interview, during which they said they had taken the trailer as retaliation for an allegedly unusable $5,000 check they received for work they completed.
The officer told them to contact the HBPD to report the bad check.
The trailer was towed to Eustis for safekeeping.