Columbia truck driver accused of stealing riding lawn mowers

Two men, including one from Columbia, have been arrested in connection with a scheme to steal zero-turn-radius lawn mowers from the production factory, according to the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said the men’s occupations – one is a trucker and the other a warehouse worker – positioned them to make off with two new mowers.

“These two individuals came up with a plan to steal these mowers in broad daylight, acting as if nothing were wrong,” the sheriff said in a news release Thursday.

David Rosenfeld, 57, of Trenholm Road in Columbia and Peter Truesdell, 36, of Polk Spring Road, Elloree, were each charged Thursday with criminal conspiracy and grand larceny. Truesdell was employed at Husqvarna in Orangeburg, while Rosenfeld was a trucker for Roadway.

Bond was set at $7,500 personal recognizance on each man.

According to warrants against the men, Truesdell loaded two $1,700 machines onto a tractor trailer being driven by Rosenfeld on Sept. 2.

A warehouse employee noted there was no paperwork for the mowers to be shipped. Ravenell said the Sheriff’s Office investigated that discrepancy in the paperwork to discover what happened to the mowers, according to a news release.

Investigator Riley Godwin said the investigation continues.