A 6-foot tall air compressor was stolen from an automobile repair shop in Summerfield.

The piece of equipment valued at Tuffy’s Tire & Auto Service was apparently stolen in the wee hours Saturday morning, according to an arrest report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Video surveillance captured a truck which initially pulled up at about 2:30 a.m. at the repair shop on U.S. Hwy. 441. The truck returned twice more and on the third trip had a trailer in tow. At about 5 a.m., the air compressor had been loaded onto the trailer and the truck drove away.

Deputies later spotted 33-year-old Brandon Earl Rutledge of Summerfield, who appeared to be wearing the same type of clothing one of the thieves was wearing when he was captured on video surveillance.

Rutledge admitted he had been smoking methamphetamine when he was asked to join in the air compressor heist. He claimed he was not told where the air compressor was being taken, but was told a buyer had been lined up for the piece of equipment.

Rutledge was arrested on a felony charge of grand theft. He was booked at the Marion County Jail on $2,000 bond.

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