MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A Treasure Coast developer who also owns a condo on South Beach was arrested by Miami Beach police on two felony charges on Wednesday after they said he stole a piece of expensive construction equipment in a parking dispute just before 1 a.m. last Friday.
Scott Parker, the 65-year-old CEO of Vero Beach-based American Building Group and Florida Statewide Realty, appeared in Miami-Dade bond court Thursday morning.
Miami Beach police said Parker, whose full name is Peter Scott Parker, took an $80,000 air compressor from a gated area at 1573 Pennsylvania Ave., hitched it to his truck and drove away, leaving the gate track damaged in the process.
Police said a worker took a photo of the theft in progress and investigators were able to tie it to Parker.
According to an arrest report, detectives spoke to Parker’s wife multiple times throughout the day to try to get hold of him; eventually, his attorney, Arthur Jones, called.
The report states that Jones told investigators that Parker has an “ongoing issue” with the association putting the air compressor in his parking spot, saying that Parker drove it to a home in the 3700 block of Northwest 59th Avenue in Virginia Gardens “due to his frustration after arriving from Vero Beach to find the generator in said parking space.”
Virginia Gardens police recovered the air compressor, authorities said.
Parker surrendered to Miami Beach police on Wednesday to face charges of second-degree grand theft and felony criminal mischief.
“It should be noted that Mr. Parker removed the generator and moved it approximately 11 miles,” a Miami Beach police detective wrote in the report. “At no time did Mr. Parker notify law enforcement after committing the theft until police began to track him down.”
In court on Thursday, Jones downplayed the incident as an “ongoing civil dispute with the association” and asked that Parker be released on his own recognizance.
“It’s not a random act. It was in his parking spot and it was removed,” Jones said. “And as soon as they were looking for him, we told them where to find it.”
Glazer found probable cause for the charges but ordered Parker be released on his own recognizance.
In a statement to Local 10 News, Anthony Son, the president of Ti/Con Building Systems, who owns the equipment, said he was grateful to Miami Beach police and “that we never would have expected this type of incident to have occurred, considering that the equipment was behind a locked enclosure.”
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