The Ocala Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying two vending machine heisters operating in the local area.
Late last month, Ocala police officers responded to the Dollar General store on NE 28th Street, where they learned that two white men had tricked the clerk into believing they were there to pick up the vending machines for repair. That wasn’t true and the duo actually stole the machines, an Ocala Police report states.
The pair then went to a second Ocala Dollar General and removed vending machines when the clerk was away from the front of the business. It is believed that the men might have been in a silver 1990s-model Ford pickup, the report states.
Anybody with information about these men or the cases mentioned above are encouraged to call Detective Mike Coughlin at (352) 369-7000 or Crime Stoppers at (352) 368-7867.