A worker from a local landscaping company has been taken into custody after allegedly stealing trees from Sodus’ Beechwood State Park in Wayne County, according to park representatives.
Salvatore Vittozzi, who is the caretaker of the park and resides inside the premises, noticed a Preston’s Landscaping truck filled with pine trees leaving the park on Tuesday morning. Upon reviewing security footage, he saw the same empty truck entering the park just a few hours earlier.
Photos showed the empty red Preston’s pickup entering the park at 4:13 p.m. and leaving 16 minutes later with a full truck bed.
Vittozzi reported the incident to the police and began investigating further. He followed some footprints into the woods and discovered several missing trees and the ground ripped up. On the same day, New York State Police arrived to investigate the incident and managed to catch the perpetrator planting the trees at a nearby private residence.
The suspect, an employee of the landscaping company, has been taken into custody, and charges are expected to be filed shortly.
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