Deputies search for group that stole five horses from Seffner pasture

SEFFNER — A group of thieves carried on a conversation with a witness as they rounded up five horses and drove away, authorities said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office gave this account of the incident: Three people wearing cowboy hats arrived by truck at a pasture in the 7400 block of Williams Road on Sept. 5.

The three, who brought a trailer to the site, released two horses of their own to help them corral eight others that were grazing in the pasture. A witness watched the scene unfold, unaware they were stealing the animals.

The thieves were able to get away with five horses: a 1,300-pound stout palomino gelding; a chocolate brown Shetland pony stallion with flaxen mane and tail; a dark bay mare with an injured hip and a limp; a blue roan paint mare with large dark spots; and a paintaloosa mare that is brown and white in the front half with small brown spots on the white rear end area and four white stockings.

Three other horses got away and on Wednesday someone noticed a horse in the pasture with a rope around its neck and called the owner.

He reported the stolen animals to the Sheriff's Office and the witness gave a description of the thieves. They were driving a late-model, burgundy Dodge pickup truck with dual wheels and pulling a newer, green gooseneck horse trailer with a white canvas top.

Deputies are looking for a heavyset, white man and woman and a thin, white man with a goatee.

Anyone with information about the horses or the thieves, should call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200 or Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-873-8477.