They finally nailed him.
An elderly Florida man dubbed the “Nail Bandit” was arrested Thursday morning after almost two years of purposefully damaging fire rescue vehicles by placing sharp objects beneath the tires, authorities said.
John Allan Starnes, 72, was arrested while “[committing] the act in real-time” during a traffic stop following the months-long “Operation Nail Bandit” in Okeechobee County. He is accused of committing “repeated acts of sabotage” against the county’s fire department, according to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Department.
John Allan Starnes was arrested after 19 months of allegedly planting sharp objects near emergency vehicles’ tires. Okeechobee County Fire Rescue/Facebook
“For the last 18, 19 months prior to April, County Fire has been experiencing nails, tacks, sharp objects that have been being thrown about their private vehicles and in front of the emergency response vehicles at all the fire stations,” Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen said