Thomas Cameron Dupree, a 37-year-old resident of Palatka, faces three felony charges, including a second-degree felony charge of dealing in stolen property, following his arrest last Thursday (Oct. 30) over coquina rocks stolen from a construction site–and put up for sale on Facebook under Dupree’s name.
One of the pictures Dupree posted also included his white Ford truck, its license plate, and scenes from around the construction site from where the rocks were stolen.
The construction site is at Leatherwood Drive in the Tuscany subdivision off Old Kings Road in Palm Coast. The victim showed a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy the Facebook Marketplace posting he’d found of what appeared to be the stolen rocks. He’d noticed the pile of rocks at the construction site getting progressively smaller before discovering the Facebook postings. .
One of the boulders Dupree was showing was distinctively recognizable, and valued at $1,600. Several other pictures were posted under Dupree’s Facebook page, each a closeup of a boulder, some in a trailer.
The victim began posing as a buyer, communicating and negotiating with the seller, who provided his phone number.
On Oct. 26, a license plate reader in Flagler County detected Dupree’s truck as it was driving north on Old Kings Road, near Graham Swamp, not far from the Tuscany subdivision. A traffic camera captured it going on Palm Coast Parkway–with coquina rocks in its bed. Another license plate reader captured it heading westbound on County Road 204 at U.S. 1, toward Palatka.
Earlier that evening, the victim had texted Dupree: “Never got pictures of the other rocks boss.”
DuPree responded at 6:11: “On my way over to them now I’ll get you pics in about 45 minutes.” Later that evening, after getting the rocks, Dupree sent the pictures and a text: “It was raining really bad.. that’s all I could get tonight.. Let me know if those could do..?”
His phone was registered to a St. Augustine woman who partly shares his name, at the same address listed as Dupree’s on his driver’s license. A Flagler County sheriff’s detective asked for Palatka police to drive by the Dupree address in Palatka and take pictures. The coquina rocks were spotted on a trailer there–the same trailer Dupree had attached to his truck.
The victim and his brother stayed in contact with Dupree and arranged to meet him at Espanola Community Park to “buy” the rocks. Dupree said he’d sell them for $3,200. The Sheriff’s Office prepared a sting operation. When Dupree showed up at the park, he spoke with an undercover detective, thinking he was speaking with his buyer. A little later, he was in handcuffs.
He told deputies he’d been given permission a year ago to take the coquina rocks, though he couldn’t say by whom.
Dupree’s three charges carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison, though he is likely to plead to far less than that. He was booked at the Flagler County jail on $7,500 bond and released after posting bail.
Leave a Reply