Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916
THWARTED THIEF Recovered bronze bird statues await their owners in a storage area at the Sheriff's Office. SHERIFF'S OFFICE RECOVERS STOLEN BRONZE LAWN FIGURES SOLD FOR SCRAP By Rachel Brown Hackney Editor Siesta Key resident Ron Flynn is happy one of his stolen bronze lawn statues has been recov- ered by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, and he remains hopeful the other still might show up, he told The Sarasota News Leader Sept. 25. The Sheriff's Office announced Sept. 25 that detectives had arrested a local pool cleaner in connection with the theft of Flynn's sandhill crane statues and several other lawn figures and the attempt to sell them as scrap for cash. Detectives allege Jason McMahon, 40, of 3312 W. 37th St., Bradenton, stole bird statues worth $8,500 worth from at least three homes on Siesta Key and in Prestancia. He has been charged with one count of Grand Theft for each case, according to the report. McMahon was an employee of Sparkle Brite Pools, the report adds. Additionally, the Sarasota Police Department has charged McMahon in a similar case, and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office is pursu- ing charges against McMahon for his alleged efforts to scrap the statues in that jurisdiction, the Sarasota County Sheriff's report says. "The Sheriff's Office was just fantastic," Flynn told the News Leader, "and so was the salvage yard in Sarasota."