An employee of an electrical contractor accused of stealing rings at a job site in the Village of Duval, is now a suspect in three similar thefts in The Villages.
Michael Allen Evans, 47, was arrested Tuesday at a job site in the Village of Fernandina as Sumter County sheriff’s deputies were investigating the theft of $13,500 worth of rings from a woman’s bedroom in the Village of Duval. Evans had been at the woman’s home, working for Integrity Electrical Contracting adding an electrical circuit to the lanai of her home. You can read more about that arrest HERE
Evans posted $4,000 bond and was released Wednesday from the Sumter County Detention Center.
After a story with a photo of Evans was published on www.villages-news.com, the sheriff’s office began receiving calls from Villagers who had Integrity Electrical Contracting perform work at their homes and shortly thereafter discovered they were missing valuable rings.
Chris Pusch of the Village of Charlotte had Integrity Electrical Contracting at her home on May 23 installing ceiling fan lights. She then discovered that her and her husband’s wedding bands were missing along with a 20th anniversary ring worth $2,000.
She is heading to an area pawn shop on Monday to identify what are believed to be her rings. She will be accompanied by a detective with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. If they are her rings, she will have to pay the pawnbroker to get them back.
Pusch said she spoke to the owner of Integrity Electrical Contracting who promised he would “do whatever he can to make it right by me.”
Evans has a prior criminal record. He had been arrested in November 2014 in Citrus County on a probation violation. Evans had been placed on probation in St. John’s County on a charge of defrauding a financial business.
According to an arrest report, Evans admitting to taking the rings in the Village of Duval case, indicating he need the money to feed his drug habit.
