Courtesy: Bay County Sheriff's Office
BAY COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida FedEx delivery driver is accused of stealing packages from his delivery route and taking them to his home, where investigators say some of the stolen merchandise was used by him and his girlfriend.
Florida FedEx driver theft arrest
The backstory:
The Bay County Sheriff's Office announced the arrests of Justin Varnes, 35, and Haeley Olson, 30, on multiple grand theft-related charges following an investigation into missing FedEx packages.
On Thursday, investigators executed a search warrant at a Bay County home as part of the investigation into the reported thefts.
The investigation began after multiple customers reported missing or disputed deliveries, according to the sheriff's office.
Investigators used recorded interviews, in-vehicle surveillance footage, GPS data and recovered property to determine that Varnes, who worked as a FedEx delivery driver, was removing packages from his assigned delivery truck and taking them to his residence, BCSO said.
During an interview, Varnes admitted to stealing packages from his delivery route for about a month, according to investigators.
The sheriff's office said the stolen merchandise included air-conditioning units, a 70-inch television, laptops, electric bicycles, an iPhone 18 Pro Max and other items.
Laptop swapped for popcorn
Dig deeper:
In one instance, investigators said Varnes removed a laptop from a customer's package and replaced it with a bag of popcorn.
According to the sheriff's office, Varnes then resealed the package and documented it as delivered.
When the customer confronted Varnes after discovering the popcorn, investigators said Varnes denied working for FedEx, despite being in a FedEx-issued delivery truck and wearing FedEx-issued clothing.
Courtesy: Bay County Sheriff's Office
Investigators also determined that Varnes marked packages as delivered even when the intended merchandise had not been delivered.
In other cases, Varnes removed merchandise and replaced it with other items, including used personal property belonging to him, before resealing the packages and delivering them to customers.
The sheriff's office said Varnes acknowledged he knew the FedEx truck was equipped with cameras and GPS tracking but continued taking packages.
During the search of the home, investigators recovered numerous items believed to have been stolen from FedEx, including property that had not yet been reported missing.
The total estimated value of the stolen property identified during the investigation is about $10,000, according to the sheriff's office.
Girlfriend accused in grand theft scheme
Why you should care:
Investigators also interviewed Varnes' girlfriend, Olson.
According to the sheriff's office, Olson said that Varnes had been bringing numerous packages from his delivery route into their home.
Olson also said that she and Varnes had benefited from and used the stolen property, investigators said.
Varnes was charged with grand theft involving property valued between $5,000 and $10,000 and ongoing scheme to defraud.
Olson was charged with accessory after the fact to grand theft involving property valued between $5,000 and $10,000.
What's next:
The case remains active, and the sheriff's office said additional charges may be added.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Bay County Sheriff's Office.