81 Year Old Man Charged With Looting A Tangerine Grove

[Millet]

Deputies in Florida say an 81-year-old man picked thousands of tangerines - an amazing 11 truckloads worth - and then sold the stolen bounty at a nearby market. Herman Southall was charged Wednesday with 11 counts of transporting citrus (one count for each truckload) without a certificate, grand theft  and trespassing. He is being held at the Polk County Jail on an $8,500 bond.
Southall and another man were found by deputies Wednesday picking fruit in a Dundee grove after a Sheriff's Office helicopter pilot saw them. It's unclear if he has retained an attorney. Deputies say the two had picked more than four rows of Sunburst tangerines. The report said they were preparing to load the fruit into Southall's truck.
Millet

[fruitlovers]

I'd like to know his secret for longevity and vitality? 

[laidbackdood]

Wow........Going to all that trouble at 81.......why bother?

[buddyguygreen]

I'd like to know his secret for longevity and vitality? 

I bet it has something to do with tangerines   

[Tropheus76]

This story made the news here in Orlando at one point and they carefully minimized what they said when it came to how much he took. Even in one of the articles I read you had to hunt down the amount. What was funny was all the people in support of him in the comments section just taking a few oranges and how police were over reacting.

[laidbackdood]

11 truck loads worth is hardly "taking a few oranges".................taking a few oranges is a couple of 7 year old boys ....jumping over the fence and taking 4 or 5 .............at 81 he should know better.......stick him in jail. and feed him on the oranges that he stole for the term of his sentence.....I bet that would put him off stealing them again.

[TRI433]

I do not think I will make  it to 81.    That is way too long to stay alive!


One of our employees stole a lot of citrus fruits from our satsuma trees two years ago but those citrus plants have been abandoned anyway.  That fruit would have rotted if not picked so at least someone enjoyed it though we suspect it was sold.


I have no citrus at all  down here.