Burglary suspect arrested after stealing phone and lunchbox from Duke Energy bucket truck

A Kissimmee man was arrested after burglarizing a Duke Energy bucket truck and attempting to flee by walking through a lake.

Deputies responded to an unknown man, later identified as 35-year-old Michael Thomas Gullberg, burglarizing a white Powerline Duke Energy Bucket Truck at 18811 U.S. Hwy. 27 around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect was seen rummaging through items inside the truck. 

The male victim advised that he heard the air brakes on the vehicle hissing which caught his attention. He ran over to see a man matching Gullberg’s description exit the truck and run into the tree line with unknown items. He believed that Gullberg was trying to steal the truck but was unsuccessful due to the air brakes being locked, the report said. 

As the victim and his partner walked up to the truck, they observed several items to be missing. His partner noticed that his black and green Ozark lunch box, iPhone 11 Plus, Duke Energy ID badge, personal truck keys, iPad and laptop charger were gone. These items totaled about $2,510, the report said. 

The victim believed his iPhone 13 Pro Max, totaling about $1,100, was stolen from the truck. This was later recovered inside the vehicle, but he advised that he saw Gullberg holding his cellphone while in the vehicle. He knew it was his phone due to recognizing the case and his phone having three cameras whereas his partner’s phone did not, the report said. 

Deputies quickly responded to the area and set up a perimeter of the last known location where Gullberg fled. They were able to use a drone to take a screenshot of an individual walking along the shallow portion of a lake with a green and black lunchbox in hand. This screenshot was shown to the victim and his partner who then confirmed him to be the suspected thief, the report said. 

The LCSO Marine unit was used to take Gullberg into custody due to him bedding himself in the swampy part of the lake. They were then able to detain him without incident, the report said. 

Gullberg was positively identified at that point. The report noted that he was soaking wet and had in his possession the lunchbox containing two Duke Energy IDs and a large amount of water. The victim and his partner again confirmed that he was the suspect, as well, the report said. 

The report also noted that the superintendent provided a screenshot of Gullberg inside the bucket truck. He advised he would later provide a full video for evidence. 

Gullberg refused to speak to deputies, but he did spontaneously utter that his knees hurt from walking through the lake for the past 30 minutes, the report said. 

The Connecticut native was ultimately charged with two counts of grand theft (more than $300 less than $5k), burglary to unoccupied conveyance, resisting without violence and grand theft auto (attempted). He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $8,500.