Pumpkin Thief was Growing Pot, Too

Police picked up a man for stealing 130 pumpkins and growing pot.

In an e-mail sent to WESB and The HERO, Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s deputies say they received a call about a possible theft in progress at around midnight on Saturday in the Town of Great Valley. When they got there, the caller said her husband followed the suspect to his home on Route 219 near Ellicottville Central School. The man and the suspect were in the road arguing when deputies arrived.

The suspect started walking back to his house and when deputies asked him to stop, he started running toward the house. Deputies caught up with him and, after a short struggle, took him into custody.

Deputies learned that 38-year-old Samuel Beu Jr. took about 130 pumpkins valued at about $1,300. While deputies were searching the outside of the property to find the rest of the pumpkins, they found a large marijuana plant growing in a garden.

Beu is charged with grand larceny, resisiting arrest, trespassing and unlawful growing of cannabis. He’s in jail on $2,500 bail.