LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Surveillance video shows a naked man driving away from a Florida storage center in a stolen pickup truck loaded with a statue of a large, black and white checkered swan that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Now deputies are looking for the swan that was stolen last weekend. A video shows the man holding a white bucket in front of his body as he tries to open doors at the storage center in Lakeland, which is between Orlando and Tampa. That man was arrested in nearby Tampa, according to law enforcement. He’s charged with the theft of the truck — but isn’t talking about the swan’s whereabouts, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, during a news conference Friday.
Investigators say they’ve found the truck that was reported stolen in a nearby county, but they still don’t know why the man was naked as he apparently tried to break into Lakeland Cold Storage. Ronald Thompson, 47, is being held at the Hillsborough County Jail, with bail set at $2,000, and is being investigated for the swan theft.
Judd said someone must know where the enormous swan is hiding. It’s named “Aspyre” and is worth $25,000.
“Look folks. Where are you going to hide a five-foot tall, checkered swan? If someone’s harboring this swan and not telling us, we’re going to put them in jail. And we hope when we find them, they have clothes on,” Judd said.
