Man Charged With Theft Of $30K Bobcat From Molino Business

March 27, 2018

A Molino man has been arrested for allegedly stealing a Bobcat loader from a Molino feed store during the long New Year’s weekend.

Rex Burton Hassell, 57, was charged with burglary of an unoccupied structure, felony larceny and criminal mischief with property damage.

According to an arrest report, Hassell broke into H&H Feed  on Highway 97 sometime between December 30 and January 3 and stole a Bobcat T300 skid steer worth $30,000 from inside a locked warehouse. The business owners reported that their power meter was removed from the service box during the early morning hours of December 30.

On January 22, the Bobcat was located less than 5 miles away near a pond in a wooded area off Brickyard Road in Molino. It  been wrapped in a tarp and covered with vegetation.

Pictured: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigates after a stolen Bobcat was recovered in a wooded area in Molino on January 22. Pictured inset and first photo below: The Bobcat was concealed with a tarp and vegetation. The Bobcat is hidden in the left of the photo below. Pictured bottom photos: The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigated the theft on January 3. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

8 Responses to “Man Charged With Theft Of $30K Bobcat From Molino Business”

  1. Molino1 on March 30th, 2018 7:21 am

    I think all the comments below speak for themselves. Anyone who knows Rex knows he is a hard working rough neck that has always kept to himself and he’s far from stupid and this is not something he would do..there is definitely a lot more to this story but the ECSO is probably not going to pursue the rest of it because they don’t care as long as they have someone to pin it on….even if that person isn’t guilty. I’m sure if the ECSO pulled you out of bed in the middle of the night while you’re sleeping you wouldn’t look to be in the best “condition” either as the person below me stated. also WEAR put in their article they received “a break in the case during a different investigation when a woman said she heard Rex talking about selling a bobcat”..word of mouth is evidence these days? Sounds like someone needed to find a way out of trouble and used Rex’s name as a way out. Praying the TRUTH comes out .

  2. Nicholson on March 29th, 2018 3:14 pm

    Rex, is a good hard working man. That has fallen on some hard times. Cancer, loss of his job, family problems, and he trusted and became involved with some BAD people. I also think there’s more to this story and I know that there are more people involved. This was not a one man job. I hope that the Sheriffs Office investigation fine all the party’s involved. Look very close to his home.

  3. Bill on March 29th, 2018 9:28 am

    Well I find this hard to believe. I know rex is much smarter than this . I would be willing to bet there is more to the story ..!!!!!!!!!

  4. Mr. Metoo on March 28th, 2018 4:34 am

    Grand Locust look for a master battery cut off switch with the key. Cut the battery.

  5. Southern girl on March 28th, 2018 12:13 am

    Those that do wrong to you eventually get their own karma!!!

  6. 429SCJ on March 27th, 2018 5:09 pm

    I went through Jim Allen, Ransom and Tate with Rex, a grade ahead. He was not like this. I have not seen him in over twenty years and find his condition alarming.

    I hope that you get yourself straightened out Rex, I will remember you in my prayers.

  7. Lucky on March 27th, 2018 1:58 pm

    it now has keyless entry.

  8. Grand Locust on March 27th, 2018 7:47 am

    That T-300 model uses a common bobcat key. Anybody with a bobcat key can walk right up and steal the same using their key. Bobcat finally has wised up with different security, but how did they catch this guy, and what was his plan? It just seems like stupid on steroids, because it was going to be found, unless he thought waiting months or years and then putting it on craigslist he was going to somehow sell it without LEO looking for folks selling bobcats. I keep my T-190 in a steel storage unit with a lock, but when I leave it at a work site overnight there is nothing I can do except back it up against a tree so nobody can open the engine compartment and hope when I come back the next morning……it is still there. Great machines if you buy them legally but unless you want an orange jump suit which matches the bobcat orange, do not use those common keys to steal.