A 39-year-old man on probation was caught stealing metal pipe fencing from a Riverside sheriff's horse training facility, apparently twice within 72 hours, a sheriff's segregant said Sunday.
Robert G. Ivory was caught with the expensive pre-fab fencing in his truck after the second theft, on Thursday, said Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Curt Harris.
The first theft was discovered Monday when a deputy noticed that 17 sections of metal pipe horse fencing were missing from the Ben Clark Training Center along Nandina Avenue, near Alexander Street.
On Tuesday, department personnel driving by the Tonaya Feed & Grain store spotted what looked like the stolen fencing. The store's owner later cooperated with investigators, and helped them develop leads on the suspected thief, Harris said.
The stolen fencing, valued at over $2,000, was returned to the training center.
On Thursday morning, deputies again discovered fencing had been stolen from the same location, this time over $1,200 worth, Harris said.
A suspicious vehicle linked to the first theft was pulled over near the training facility a few hours later, and inside deputies found the fencing stolen in the second theft, according to Harris.
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Ivory was arrested and booked into Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of grand theft, two counts of receiving stolen property and violation of probation.
He remained jailed in lieu of $100,000.
