Inverness Jobsite Thieves Haul Off Custom Trailer Loaded With Pipe Reels

A homemade flatbed trailer loaded with three large pipe reels disappeared from a construction site in Inverness sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning, and the Citrus County Sheriff's Office wants the public's help finding it. The trailer, built with welded metal frames designed specifically to hold pipe reels, was last seen at 8 p.m. on Saturday and was discovered missing by 9:45 a.m. on Monday.

According to a bulletin from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, the trailer carries tag number 25DWJT and remains loaded with the three pipe reels that made it a target in the first place. The bulletin, numbered 2026-0100, ties the theft to case number 26-0008528. Anyone who spots the trailer or has information about the incident is asked to call the sheriff's office at 352-249-2700 and reference that case number.

The agency also listed a separate line, 352-249-2790, for anyone with information to call directly. Investigators have not said whether they have identified a suspect or recovered any leads since the bulletin went out.

Anonymous Tips Could Mean a Reward

Residents who prefer not to give their names can go through Crime Stoppers of Citrus County, which takes anonymous tips at 1-888-269-8477 or through its website, crimestopperscitrus.com. The nonprofit operates independently from the sheriff's office and offers tipsters the chance at a cash reward for information leading to an arrest, according to Citrus County Crime Stoppers.

The sheriff's office regularly posts these kinds of Attempt to Locate bulletins for stolen vehicles, trailers, and jobsite equipment across the county, a public outreach tool it has used to recover missing property in the past, per its own Facebook page. Inverness, the county seat of Citrus County, sits within a jurisdiction spanning more than 770 square miles and serving over 171,000 residents, and it houses much of the county's government and commercial infrastructure. The sheriff's office is led by Sheriff David Vincent, who took office in January 2025 following a 27-year law enforcement career that included a stint as chief of the local school board police department, according to the Florida Sheriffs Association.

Why Jobsite Theft Cases Carry Steep Penalties

Whoever took the trailer could be facing serious felony exposure under Florida law. Stealing property valued at $750 or more from a construction site marked with legally required warning signs is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine, according to Hussein & Webber, PL. If the combined value of the trailer and pipe reels lands between $20,000 and $100,000, the charge could escalate to a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years, per the Alison M. Lopes Criminal Defense firm.

Suspects could also face a separate trespassing charge. Florida Statute 810.09(2)(c) makes it an independent third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to unlawfully enter a posted construction site, whether that property is larger than one acre with warning signs or one acre or smaller with prominent two-inch lettering, according to Online Sunshine.

A Familiar Problem for Florida Job Sites

Cases like this one are far from rare. Construction site theft and heavy equipment losses cost the nation somewhere between $300 million and $1 billion annually, based on combined figures from the National Equipment Register and the National Insurance Crime Bureau cited by WCCTV USA. Florida, Texas, and California together account for more than 63 percent of all reported jobsite property crimes nationwide, the same outlet reports, with Florida's extensive construction activity and interstate highway networks making it an especially attractive target for thieves.

The odds of getting stolen equipment back aren't great. Fewer than 25 percent of stolen construction materials, heavy equipment, and commercial trailers are ever recovered by law enforcement, according to data from the National Equipment Register and NICB cited by AMP Lock, in part because thieves can move specialized gear across regional lines or break down custom trailers before they're spotted. That low recovery rate is part of why the Citrus County Sheriff's Office is pushing the bulletin out publicly now, hoping someone in Inverness noticed the trailer rolling through town.