Attempt to sell stolen leafblower backfires

Theft • Stolen machine identified as city property.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A Sandy man allegedly trying to make a quick profit by selling a leafblower reported stolen from a Draper city employee got some blowback after he was charged with two felonies.

The 26-year-old was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with theft by receiving stolen property and theft by deception, both third-degree felonies.

According to charging documents, the defendant pawned the leafblower, which was identified as belonging to Draper Public Works, at EZ Pawn, 50 W. 7200 South, on Aug. 16, the same day it had been reported stolen.

A Draper city employee told police that the leaf blower was stolen from the back of his truck while he was working at a park that day.

The alleged thief had given the pawn shop his identification and a thumbprint before pawning off the stolen property.

kbennion@sltrib.com

Twitter: @kimballbennion