Deputies: Pasco man took stolen tractor on beer run

LAND O'LAKES — About 11 p.m. Friday, a deputy pulled over a man driving a Massey Ferguson box blade tractor west on Wisteria Loop. The tractor had been stolen from a roadside construction site, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report. Deputies said the driver, Heath Cannon, reeked of alcohol.

"I'm sorry, I drove the tractor to the RaceTrac to buy a beer," Cannon, 43, told deputies, according to the report.

Cannon, of 19615 Bexley Road in Land O'Lakes, has previously been convicted of theft and loitering and prowling. Early Saturday, he was arrested in connection with the theft of the $15,000 tractor, which had been reported missing by a construction company doing road work along U.S. 41. He also was charged with possession of burglary tools.

He is being held in the Land O'Lakes jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.