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Friday, March 29, 2024

Gainesville couple claims farm supply store theft was in exchange for transportation

A Gainesville couple was jailed Thursday night after allegedly trying to steal $1,105.26 in merchandise from a farm supply store in exchange for a ride.

Johnnie Hamilton Long and Lea Kay Stephens

A Marion County sheriff’s deputy was called to the Tractor Supply Company, located at 7351 N U.S. Hwy. 441, and when he arrived, the manager and two employees said they had watched 46-year-old Johnnie Hamilton Long fill a shopping cart full of merchandise and then stand near the exit doors with the items. They said 38-year-old Lea Kay Stephens entered the store and walked over to where Long was standing. Then both exited the store without paying for the merchandise, a sheriff’s office report states.

The store manager followed them into the parking lot as they walked away from the store with the cart toward U.S. Hwy. 441. A short time later, they abandoned the cart and walked to a nearby gas station, where they were eventually taken into custody.

The store manager said the items in the cart included D-handle ratchet tie-downs, a 2.5-ton floor jack with a case, a 12,000-pound truck winch, a jump starter, a 10-inch Jungle super machete, an 8-inch Camillus fixed-blade knife with fire starter, a 7-inch straight folding saw, a 14.1-ounce Worthington MAP/Pro fuel cylinder, a trigger-start torch kit, two diagnostic scan tools, a 4.7-ton bow clevis, a vehicle recovery ring, a 36-piece hobby knife set and a Dewalt MAXFIT screwdriver set.

After being read their rights, both Long and Stephens said several men they didn’t know told them to steal the items in exchange for transportation. Long allegedly confessed to selecting the merchandise that he was told to choose and exiting the store without paying for the items. Stephens said she tried to prevent Long for taking the merchandise but did know that he exited the store – in her company – without paying for the items.

Both Long and Stevens were transported to the Marion County Jail, where they were charged with larceny/retail theft. They were being held on $5,000 bond apiece and are due in court on Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.