Chilton County sheriff’s deputies on Monday, March 14, 2022, responded to a call of a theft in progress on County Road 358. (Chilton County Sheriff's Office)

An Alabama man is behind bars after authorities say he tried to pull off a big theft and by big they mean really big – as in a 70-ton crane.

Chilton County sheriff’s deputies earlier this week responded to a call of a theft in progress on County Road 358. When they arrived on the scene, they met with the owner of a wrecker service who told them a man had called him to help him pull the crane out of a wooded area behind a residence.

The suspect – identified as 26-year-old Johnny Kent Mims – told the wrecker driver that the crane had been given to him and that he planned to take it to a local scrap yard to sell.

After pulling crane onto the roadway, sheriff’s officials said, the wrecker driver remembered moving the same crane a couple of years ago for a local company.

He called the owner, who told him he had not given the crane to anyone.

That’s when the wrecker driver called 911.

Chilton County sheriff’s deputies on Monday, March 14, 2022, responded to a call of a theft in progress on County Road 358. (Chilton County Sheriff's Office)

Authorities said Mims then tried to drive away in the crane but ran into a ditch.

Mims fled the scene, but investigators were able to identify him.

He was taken into custody the following day on an outstanding probation violation warrant and a new charge of first-degree theft of property.

The crane was returned to its rightful owner.

“We have worked a lot of theft cases over the years,’’ sheriff’s officials said, “but this one definitely takes first place in the heavyweight category.”

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