Palmetto man stole over $100K in hurricane relief money, police say. He didn’t get far

A Palmetto man is in jail after police say he stole over $100,000 in Hurricane Ian relief money from a local Moose Lodge.

William Andrew Luff, 34, is charged with criminal mischief, tampering with evidence, possession of burglary tools, grand theft during a state of emergency and burglary during a state of emergency. Florida statutes increase penalties for burglary and theft when there is a state of emergency in effect.

The Palmetto Police Department sent out a wanted notice for Luff on Facebook on Tuesday evening.

Police said Luff stole the cash from the Palmetto Moose Lodge. Members were preparing to send the money south to other Florida Moose Lodge chapters for disaster relief, the police department said.

Police shared a photo of Luff and asked members of the public to look out for him driving his red Ford F-150.

Later that night, Palmetto police detectives tracked Luff down in Tampa and arrested him with help from the Tampa Police Department, the department said in an update on its Facebook page.

Detective say Luff was cooperative, and nearly $100,000 of the stolen money was recovered.

The funds were returned to the Palmetto Moose Lodge on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Luff was held without bond at Hillsborough County’s Falkenburg Road Jail facility, inmate records showed.

This story was originally published October 6, 2022 at 5:43 PM.