The Flagler County Sea Turtle Patrol just got its wheels back after a mosquito control worker found its stolen ATV hidden in some woods near Marineland, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
The camouflage-colored Kawasaki Brute Force 750 ATV was found squirreled away in the woods about 10 a.m. July 13 by John Dunlop, a field technician for the East Flagler Mosquito Control District, according to the sheriff’s office. Dunlop was doing some routine inspections when he spotted the ATV and reported it to the sheriff’s office.
The ATV was stolen on June 17 from a shed in Marineland where it was stored by the Flagler County Sea Turtle Patrol. It was used by volunteers to check for turtle nests in a stretch of shoreline from northern Flagler County into southern St. Johns County.
The thief or thieves also stole an iPad, which has not been recovered.
The ATV theft meant volunteers had to walk the beach under the hot sun while carrying equipment, a turtle patrol volunteer previously said.
The volunteer said the ATV was worth $13,000.
Mosquito control worker says finding ATV was ‘a nice suprise’
The East Flagler Mosquito Control District is an independent, special taxing district formed in 1952 to battle mosquitoes, according to its press release about the discovery of the ATV.
The district stated that Dunlop is a native Floridian who “spent much of his youth playing in the swamps of the Tomoka River.”
“We never know what we’ll come upon in the areas we inspect,” Dunlop stated in the press release. “Usually, it’s something that wants to bite you. This was a nice surprise.”
The press release also had a statement from Mike Martin, who is chairman of the East Flagler Mosquito Control District Board of Commissioners.
“Our technicians know this District inch by inch because inspecting and treating mosquito habitats requires them to cover ground that most people don’t even think about,” he said. “Without hesitation, John saw something and said something; this is the caliber of our entire staff.”
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office working to track down ATV thief
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office crime scene technicians have gone over the ATV looking for evidence and detectives are following up on leads to track down whoever stole the ATV.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly praised the East Flagler Mosquito Control for finding the ATV.
“Detectives are hard at work tracking down who took it,” Staly stated in the release. “To the thief who thought they could get away with stealing from volunteers who protect our wildlife: We are following up on leads, and we have a room for you at the Green Roof Inn.”
Anyone with information about who stole the ATV or was driving or hiding it, or with information about the missing iPad, is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 386-313-4911, reference case 26-60191.
— Frank Fernandez covers courts and criminal justice in Volusia and Flagler counties for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Stolen Flagler Sea Turtle Patrol ATV found, hunt is on for thief
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
