Shreveport Man Arrested for Stealing $38,000 Commercial Mower

The Shreveport Police Department recovered a John Deere commercial lawnmower valued at $38,000 and arrested a man on a felony theft charge.

Officers responded to a reported theft along westbound Interstate 220 near the Jefferson Paige Road exit. An employee of RCI Consultants, a contractor that mows along roads for the City of Shreveport, reported that the crew had returned to the worksite that morning and discovered the high-dollar mower was gone.

Thankfully the mower had a GPS tracking device, and Officers found it under a carport on East Fairview Street. The suspect, Gydell Brooks, told SPD Officers he had loaded the mower onto a trailer and taken it to that location.

He told SPD he believed the mower had been abandoned and that he intended to locate its owner. When officers asked for documentation of his efforts to identify the owner, Brooks did not provide any.

After talking with SPD Property Crimes Detectives, Officers arrested Brooks and booked him into the Shreveport City Jail on a felony theft charge.

From SPD:

"The Shreveport Police Department reminds residents to leave equipment that belongs to someone else where they find it and contact police if they believe it has been abandoned."