Destin men charged in construction theft spree

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Three men who police say stole more than $600,000 in construction equipment across the Southeast have been arrested and could face federal charges.

Arrested on “widespread” grand theft and burglary charges were 24-year-old Gerald Rochez, 30-year-old Jorge Calderon (both of the same address on Snapper Drive in Destin) and 36-year-old Francisco Bonilla of Barracuda Street in Fort Walton Beach.

They were arrested Friday in Mobile, Ala., and jailed there, said Panama City Beach Police Maj. David Humphreys. Other agencies had arrest warrants out on the men.

“I don’t know where they’re going to wind up next,” Humphreys said. “They’re going to be brought back to Florida at some locale.”

Humphreys said the men cut through a fence in early November at United Rentals on Back Beach Road and stole more than $60,000 in tools and equipment. Last month, police responding to an alarm at Rental Inc. on Griffin Boulevard found a hole cut in the side of the building but nothing missing. 

Investigators who worked those cases found several more across Northwest Florida and suspected “a sophisticated criminal organization was operating throughout the Panhandle.” Missing items included tractors, trucks, all-terrain vehicles and other expensive equipment.

Humphreys said the stolen loot was going out of state and “with that in mind, it has the potential to be taken federal.”

Beach police joined sheriff’s offices in Bay, Walton, Okaloosa, Leon and Calhoun counties, police in Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, Tallahassee and Thomasville, Ga., authorities in Alabama, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement on the case.

“These guys are professional criminals,” Walton County Sheriff Mike Adkinson said. “This is their day job. This is what they do and they were very good at it.”

He said investigators are looking for a fourth suspect.

“This was a significant hit, a significant arrest, but we have higher aspirations from here,” Adkinson said.

Florida Freedom Newspapers’ Angel McCurdy contributed to this report.