A Summerfield man was arrested for theft after stealing a work van when he was fired over the phone from a plumbing company.
Deputies got a call from Prime Plumbing Inc., located at 37136 SR 19, Umatilla, about a recently fired employee, 57-year-old Jose Enrique Puente-Machin, around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. He had stolen one of the company’s work vehicles after being told to take his personal belongings out of it.
Multiple units searched the area until the Umatilla Police Department found the work van on State Road 19. It was turning onto Bulldog Lane, then onto Kentuckey Avenue. Puente-Machin continued to make another turn onto Mitchner Street and then again onto State Road 19, the report said.
The UPD followed the vehicle through every turn until it was on State Road 19. Once the LCSO was behind them, a felony traffic stop was initiated. Puente-Machin was challenged out of the vehicle and detained until he calmed down, the report said…