Men arrested for burglary said they didn’t know it was wrong to steal from vacant properties

Two Florida men arrested on Monday on various theft and burglary charges may be still trying to figure out what they did wrong.

Lake County sheriff’s deputies said Daniel T. Baker, 40, and Robert Richardson, 19, said they didn’t know it was wrong to steal from a vacant structure.



According to an arrest affidavit, deputies received a call just after 2pm on Monday that a pick-up truck had just left with a stove and refrigerator from a vacant home in Altoona. A deputy later spotted GMC truck. The driver, Baker, admitted to taking the items but said the home was vacant so no one owned the appliances.

During the traffic stop, the deputy became aware of a similar burglary from a trailer on the same street and found the stolen items in the back of the truck. Richardson said the trailer was vacant and he didn’t understand why it was stealing. Both men, from Altoona, remain in the Lake County jail.