Trailer Suspect Arrested

FREEPORT - The alert action of two Walton County Sheriff's deputies led to the arrest of an unsolved theft case.  Last month, a utility trailer was stolen from the parking lot of Salty Dogs Restaurant along highway 30A in Blue Mountain Beach. A picture of the stolen trailer was then published by Walton County Crimestoppers.

           This week, deputies Monty Lollie and Paul Balentine responded to a domestic violence call at a residence in Freeport.  While questioning the suspect, Matthew Shelters, the deputies noted a trailer attached to the back of Shelters' pick-up truck looked familiar.

           Upon further investigation, Lollie and Balentine determined it was the stolen trailer they saw in the Crimestoppers picture. The 35-year-old suspect was then taken into custody and booked into the Walton County Jail on a grand theft charge  Shelters was given a five-thousand dollar bond, which was subsequently revoked due to Shelters being out on bond for unrelated charges at the time of his arrest.