A fingerprint fragment led to the arrest of a Leesburg man.
Tavares Police Department detectives had been investigating a burglary which had occurred on Dec. 5 at the Tavares waste management plant on Caroline Street. A truck and trailer had been stolen along with keys to 15 vehicles when someone entered the plant through a rear window.
The detectives searched for fingerprints at the point of entry to the plant, the plant’s interior and the stolen truck which was recovered two days later in Ocklawaha. The truck had been damaged with the rear seat, rear bumper and catalytic converter removed.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory determined a partial print from the rear window of the plant matched 23-year-old Garrett Heiserman, who was out on bond for trying to steal a catalytic converter last November from a woman’s vehicle at Belk.
The detectives obtained a warrant for Heiserman’s arrest on charges of burglary, grand theft auto, grand theft and criminal mischief. Heiserman was arrested on Thursday and booked at the Lake County Jail with bond set at $20,000.
