Fort Pierce men's claims of finding appliances alongside the road don't hold water

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Two Fort Pierce men who had water heaters in the back of a truck couldn't convince St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputies they were stopping to use the bathroom at a house whose owner, one said, "I think I might know."

About 2:55 p.m. Thursday deputies responded to a house in the 2000 block of North 51st Court after receiving an anonymous complaint to two men removing a hot water heater.

Antonio Meely, 20, told deputies that he and Tarrence Lee, 31, stopped at the home for a bathroom break and they found the water heaters on the side of the road, the report states. Meely later said the duo stole the heaters from the home and a second home in the 1900 block of North 51st Street to get cash.

Now both Lee, of the 1900 block of North 44th Street, and Meely, of the 2000 block of North 51st Street, each are charged with two counts of unarmed burglary of an unoccupied structure, grand theft $300 but less than $5,000 and petit theft first degree of $100 but less than $300.

As of Friday both men were being held at the St. Lucie Couny Jail, on bond of $103,000 bond for Meely and $120,000 for Lee.

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