A Leesburg man was arrested after being involved in two theft incidents in two days, one for tequila and the other for a license plate.
An officer responded to Bob’s Discount Beverage, located at 727 N 14th St., Leesburg, for a retail theft around 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to narrative report from the Leesburg Police Department. The caller had locked 57-year-old Christopher Scott Buehrer in a small space between two doors to wait for law enforcement.
The caller explained that he saw Buehrer walk into the store with a Publix shopping cart and grocery bag. He grabbed a six pack of beer and a 1.75-liter bottle of Don Julio Tequila Blanco before walking to the checkout counter. He did not pay for the $89.99 tequila and ignored the caller when confronted about it, so the caller locked him in the store, the report said.
Buehrer denied stealing the tequila, saying he had gotten it as a gift from his sister and wanted to see if he could get a refund. When asked if he went to look at the bottles, he stated he had taken one off the shelf, put it in his bag and later put it back on the shelf. The officer ultimately issued him a misdemeanor citation for retail theft (less than $750) and released him on his own recognizance, the report said.
The following evening, officers got an alert regarding a stolen vehicle license plate through a traffic camera at the intersection of County Road 468 and Main Street, according to an arrest report from the LPD. They searched the area and found the vehicle, a white Suzuki SX4, headed south on South 14th Street. A traffic stop was initiated near Magnolia Street and Kingfisher Lane, the report said.
Buehrer stepped out of the vehicle on the driver’s side and was detained in handcuffs. He told officers that he knew the license plate was not registered to him or assigned to his vehicle. He claimed to have gotten it from somebody and did not know it was stolen, the report said.
A check of Buehrer’s information revealed he was a person of interest in a case from July 11 for having a different stolen license plate on the same vehicle. He was also stopped on July 9, when it was discovered he did not have a valid driver’s license, and his license was seized, the report said.
Additionally, his criminal history showed one prior theft conviction from June 10, the report said.
Buehrer was arrested on charges of petit theft (one prior conviction), tag not assigned and driving while license suspended with knowledge. He was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $2,000.
He was also arrested in April after returning to Rural King two days after stealing merchandise.