Ad offers neighbor's stuff

The 29-year-old resident of Chelsea Meadows apartments got sick of looking at a trailer loaded with furniture in the complex parking lot, Pasco County deputies say.

So she took matters into her own hands by taking a picture of it and posting an advertisement on Craigslist, deputies say.

"Come get this trailer, attach it to your car and get it out of here," it read. "I'm tired of looking at it, and I have no idea what to do with it. You must take couches and dresser too either keep them or dispose of them, just get them out of here! Thank you! No need to email or call just come get it," it stated. The ad continued with specific directions to the complex. "The trailer is sitting in the parking lot ready to be attached to the car and take. I will delete this post when it is gone. Thank you!"

The problem, deputies say, is the trailer or the furniture didn't belong to her. It belonged to a new tenant, Robert Andrews.

On Thursday, deputies arrested Vanessa Kimball, 29, on a charge of grand theft.

Andrews, 24, said he was at work when the theft occurred. His fiancee, Jennifer Lepage, also 24, was home when someone knocked on the door looking for the free trailer.

She said it wasn't free and looked outside and saw it had vanished, Andrews said.

He came home from work immediately and reported it stolen.

At some point, another person came over looking for the freebie and had the printed advertisement in hand and waited for deputies to arrive.

"If he had not had printed it out, I would have had no way of proving to the deputy that it was on Craigslist because by that time it had been deleted," Andrews said.

He said the trailer actually belonged to his father and he had a tough time explaining it to him.

Andrews had used it to move and was preparing to go to the dump with old furniture but hadn't had the time in a week to move it since he works every day.

"I just can't believe someone would put someone else's property on Craigslist," Andrews said.

By the next day, according to a sheriff's office report, Kimball was nowhere to be found, but the trailer reappeared - still loaded with the furniture - at the end of the complex's driveway at 4427 Dylan Loop.

The return, however, didn't come without problems. The trailer is damaged, he said.

"Now we have the trailer back, but we can't use it," he said, adding that they can't afford the repair.

Kimball, who reportedly has moved out of her apartment, was released from jail early Friday after posting $2,000 bail.

She could not be reached for comment.