Trenton man arrested for vehicle theft at Chiefland convenience store
Hannigan's mugshot courtesy of LCSO.
On January 27, 2023, the Levy County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) Communications Division received a report that a 2013 Nissan vehicle had been stolen from the convenience store located at 8051 NW 115th Street in Chiefland, Florida.
The victim reported that the vehicle had just been stolen while she was inside the convenience store, and she'd followed the stolen car in another vehicle, but lost sight of it north of Chiefland.
Deputies and detectives responded to the convenience store. According to witnesses, the car thief had been hanging around the store for a while prior to the theft. The suspect was visable on the store's surveillance video.
According to LCSO Lt. Scott Tummond, personnel at the Levy County Detention Bureau identified the suspect from the store's video surveillance as 40 year-old Michael Hannigan, of Trenton, Florida, who has been booked into the Levy County Detention Bureau six previous times, with his most recent release from the facility January 4, 2023.
A short time after the vehicle theft, the LCSO received a report that suspect Hannigan had been seen at another convenience store, located at SR 345 and NW 60th Street in Chiefland. Deputies John Finkell and Matt King went to the second store and spoke with Hannigan, who admitted that he'd been at the store where the vehicle theft had occurred, but denied that he'd stolen the vehicle.
A short time later, Deputy Bill Godwin located the stolen vehicle, abandoned approximately a mile and a half from the location where Hannigan was taken into custody. The stolen vehicle was processed by LCSO crime scene personnel. Several items of the victim's personal property were not recovered.
Hannigan was placed under arrest and booked into the Levy County Detention Bureau - his seventh time - charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and petit theft. His bond was set at $27,500.
"I appreciate the witnesses who assisted in the quick resolution of this case," said Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum. "I urge citizens to take the extra seconds necessary to secure your vehicles and belongings, even when you leave them unattended for only a short time."