Man steals large food donation truck covered in Polk Sheriff's Charities emblems, sheriff says

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — You might think a truck covered in symbols of the Polk Sheriff's Charities wouldn't be a target for a thief, but that wasn't the case for a local nonprofit.

Bobby Williams is the pastor of Freedom Church and founder of the Freedom Tour, which provides 1.2 million pounds of free food each month to people in need.

In recent years, Polk Sheriff's Charities, Sheriff Grady Judd's nonprofit organization, has donated two Freightliner trucks to the Freedom Tour.

Williams nicknamed them “Grady One” and “Grady Two.”

Last week he was contacted at 10:45 p.m. regarding Grady One who had been spotted driving around Wahneta.

“I tracked both trucks on GPS and realized, oh my God, my truck had been stolen. I got out as fast as I could,” Williams said.

The truck is covered in emblems of the Polk Sheriff's Charities.

“Who's going to steal a Freedom Tour truck with the Polk County Sheriff's Association on the side, the big symbol, you see it. Who's going to do that?” Williams asked.

Surveillance video showed a man stopping at the property to charge his scooter earlier in the evening.

“So he was like, 'Well, when my scooter is charged, I think I'd like to go to Wahneta, we call it the Twin Cities, to visit some friends,'” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a video posted to his social media.

The man, identified as Jamie Hunt, was seen getting into the driver's seat of the truck and after a few minutes of struggling to get it into the correct mode, he drove off in the truck.

“In that big truck there was $25,000 worth of cold food, even potato salad,” Sheriff Judd said.

“This is actually the potato salad,” Williams said, removing a container from the back of the Freedom Tour’s large refrigerated truck.

“He comes out there, unloads the truck and brings these guys potato salad,” Williams said. “He’s got potato salad in the front of the truck, he’s eating it.”

Deputies and Williams found Hunt in Wahneta and followed him as he returned to the Freedom Tour.

Williams said he had both professional and personal ties to Hunt.

“Because I knew him, to me it was a total lack of respect,” Williams said. “For you to know what I do for the community, for you to know who the sheriff is, for you to know all that, for you to have the mindset to steal, I said no, press charges.”

Hunt is now charged with robbery and burglary.

“We support the Freedom Tour. They do a great job. We put him in jail,” Sheriff Judd said.[Williams] didn't do a great job.