Staff report

SANTA ROSA BEACH — A salesman is behind bars after he allegedly stole a package off the porch of a man to whom he tried to sell steaks.

Deputies were called to South Church Street in Santa Rosa Beach about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in reference to a theft, according to a press release from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. The caller told them a man in a white older model Chevrolet pickup with a white deep freezer in the truck bed stopped at his home a few days earlier to try to sell him steacks. He said he told the salesman he did not want any steak and the salesman left.

The man returned Wednesday and knocked on the door. The homeowner looked out the window, recognized the salesman and did not answer the door. He then saw the man place a cardboard box that had been on the proch into the bed of the truck, according to the press release.

After calling several steak delivery services, deputies identified the suspect as Tim Porter, 42, of Panama City Beach.

The next day, two off-duty deputies were traveling west toward Destin when they saw the vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s truck. The driver, positively identified as Porter, pulled into the Walmart where he was approached by Walton and Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies. Porter admitted to the theft and was arrested for burglary and petit theft, the press release said.

The stolen property was recovered.

“We ask that our residents remain vigilant,” Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said. “Just days before this incident we received a notice from Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office regarding the same kind of scheme; someone hoping to sell steaks and stealing packages. Our patrol deputies and investigators did a fantastic job putting this case to rest and identifying suspects in the SRCSO case.”