On Monday, a man was browsing Facebook when he noticed a $2,600 trailer stolen from his yard earlier the same day was being offered for sale. He made arrangements to meet the seller, and he also contacted police.
The man said he could identify the trailer because of a piece of sheet metal on the floor. He went to the place where he was supposed to meet the seller, but nobody showed up.
Police patrolled the area and found a white Toyota Tacoma towing a freshly painted trailer without a license plate.
Joseph Perez Quintanilla, 44, was arrested and charged Tuesday with theft of property as a second-degree felony.
When he was pulled over, Quintanilla told police he was bringing the trailer to family members in Yona. However, police noted he was traveling in the opposite direction of Yona, according to a magistrate’s complaint filed in Superior Court. Then he told officers he was avoiding them after seeing their patrol car.
Although the trailer was painted and the sheet metal was missing, the trailer was identified as being the same one that was reported stolen, and missing items were later found in locations provided by Quintanilla.
Quintanilla told officers he noticed the trailer on the street around midnight, and when he didn’t see anyone around, he attached it to his truck and drove away. He brought it home, removed the license plate, painted it and posted it for sale on Facebook, according to the complaint.
He said he took the sheet metal and other items and sold them to people who didn’t know they were stolen.
If found guilty, Quintanilla could face eight years in prison.
He was released on $3,000 personal recognizance bond.
