Man accused in earlier $250K truck theft arrested with stolen semis, lithium-ion batteries in St. Johns
www.sjcitizen.com, Selim Algar, September 18, 2026
Troopers recovered two stolen tractor-trailers and their cargo at a St. Johns County truck stop, but one of the drivers escaped on foot, according to an arrest report.
The other driver, 42-year-old Jacksonville resident Eugenio Gonzalez-Merlo, was previously arrested in connection with the theft of a $250,000 utility truck.
Georgia State Patrol alerted the Florida Highway Patrol’s Cargo Theft Task Force on Sept. 14 that a stolen 53-foot trailer loaded with automobile tires might be heading south from Georgia on Interstate 95.
At about 7:30 p.m., an FHP detective spotted a white Hyundai trailer matching its description near mile marker 334. Its Florida license plate was registered to a different trailer, investigators said.
The trailer was being pulled by a white International tractor traveling with a Freightliner hauling a green shipping container.
The trucks repeatedly changed lanes together before exiting at County Road 210 and stopping at the TA Travel Center, according to the report.
Troopers detained Gonzalez-Merlo, who was driving the International. The Freightliner’s driver allegedly abandoned the second truck and fled on foot. Authorities searched the immediate area but did not find him.
Investigators determined that both tractors and both trailers had been reported stolen to law-enforcement agencies in Florida and Georgia.
Troopers recovered a load of automobile tires from the white trailer and lithium-ion batteries from the green trailer. Their value was not disclosed.
Troopers also allegedly found a folded $1 bill containing a white crystalline substance in Gonzalez-Merlo’s wallet.
He was booked into the St. Johns County jail on two first-degree felony grand-theft charges involving property valued at $100,000 or more and a drug-possession charge.
In August 2021, Gonzalez-Merlo was arrested after Flagler County authorities accused him of stealing a Freightliner utility truck valued at approximately $250,000 from a Palm Coast hotel.
A GPS tracker led deputies to a location about five miles away, but investigators found only the tracker and other equipment stripped from the truck. The truck remained missing at the time of his arrest.
News article: Man accused in earlier $250K truck theft arrested with stolen semis, lithium-ion batteries in St. Johns - St. Johns Citizen