Facebook pictures of suspect wearing stolen fireman's helmet lead to arrest

Daniel Schmidt, 23, had taken pictures of himself wearing the stolen fire helmet.

Drunken theft of  fire station results in felony charges for Casa Grande man

 

On July 31,  a fire lieutenant from Regional Fire Rescue located at 7951 W McCartney Road in Casa Grande called the Pinal County Sheriff's Office to report a burglary.

A responding PCSO deputy noticed two fire engines’ front doors were open. The lieutenant indicated several items were missing from both trucks including: (4) Kenwood radios, (2) pick-head axes, (1) helmet and (1) LED flashlight. The total value of the items stolen was estimated around $1,600.

The lieutenant indicated the department had recently installed motion detectors to deter thieves from breaking into trucks that are parked outside, under covered parking stalls. Recently the department had three radios stolen from inside emergency trucks.

On August 1, PCSO detectives helped fire Chief Steve Kerber distribute flyers throughout the surrounding community in hopes of catching the person(s) responsible.

One day after handing out fliers, someone called Chief Kerber directly to report that they knew the person responsible.

PCSO was alerted that Daniel Schmidt, 23, had taken pictures of himself wearing the stolen fire helmet. Schmidt then sent the images out to numerous people via text message and also posted the pictures on his Facebook account, acknowledging the theft.

After he was contacted by PCSO detectives, Schmidt told investigators he was drunk at the time of the theft and would cooperate with investigators to return the stolen items.

So far, Schmidt has retuned all but two radios, valued at $500 each.

He was arrested and charged with Third  Degree Burglary (stealing from a government agency, a class "F" felony).

 

"I wish to thank all the boots on the ground work from PCSO," said Regional Fire Chief Steve Kerber.  "This was not exactly the crime of the century, but certainly a major issue to us with the loss of equipment and the potential for radio channel disruption if emergency radios fall into the wrong hands."