Man arrested in connection with $100,000 worth of production equipment stolen in Phoenix

Corrections & Clarifications: The stolen items were incorrectly described in a previous version of the headline and article.

Phoenix police announced Thursday that a man was arrested in connection with the theft of $100,000 worth of production equipment in downtown Phoenix.

According to court documents, at 1:21 p.m. on Feb. 4, George Rodriguez, 36, removed four projection lights and a power distributor from the Regency Garage at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Surveillance photos obtained by police showed Rodriguez entering the garage and leaving with the confiscated items in the bed of his truck.

Officers used the photos to identify the truck, which ultimately led them to identify Rodriguez. They located and arrested him on Feb. 7.

According to court documents, Rodriguez told officers that he had been contacted by his friend, only identified as Ivan by police, the night of Feb. 3, telling Rodriguez that he found his equipment and needed his help to get them back.

Rodriguez told officers he took his father's truck downtown to meet Ivan. When he arrived, Ivan told him to cover the truck's license plate.

According to Rodriguez's statement, the two men loaded the items into the truck and drove to Rodriguez's home, where they placed the projector lights and power distributor under a tarp in the back yard.

Officers received confirmation from Rodriguez that he and Ivan were the ones in the surveillance stills, as well as the truck used.

Court documents go on to note that Rodriguez's friend, Ivan, was seen covering his head with an apparent article of clothing.

Rodriguez did not tell officers if he knew the items were stolen but did tell officers that he "knew something was off based on being asked to cover up the license plate prior to entering the garage and Ivan covering his head when they were leaving the garage."

Rodriguez has since been booked into jail on one count of theft, a class two felony.

Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Robert Scherer said in the statement that all of the stolen equipment was located and returned to the victim.

No other information has been released about Ivan's whereabouts.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man arrested in theft of production equipment in downtown Phoenix