VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach Police have identified the man they believe stole a massive HVAC system from Studio Center last week, and he’s already in jail for other crimes.
William Bohan, 48, faces a grand larceny charge and has been served even though he is in the Norfolk City Jail. He also faces charges in Norfolk for several other crimes.
When 10 On Your Side went out to Studio Center to report on a stolen HVAC system, it was not known that the man thought to be responsible was already in jail.
A surveillance video early in the morning May 8 showed a man coming and going. Then, you see someone leaving in a white van, pulling an HVAC system worth about $12,500 from the Studio Center property. You can see the space where it once was, next to the other HVAC units.
The next day, Bohan faced unrelated charges of five counts of stealing property and five counts of having tools with the intent to commit burglary, robbery, or larceny.
On May 14, 10 On Your Side spoke with Studio Center CEO Woody Prettyman, who said, “You come out here, you do the story. It airs, and then the next day, we get an anonymous phone call from a man who had some intimate knowledge of this gentleman.”
That man identifies the guy driving the van as Bohan — watching the man walk across the parking lot.
“He began rattling off quite a bit of information,” Prettyman said. “He knew the guy’s name. He knew that he was already in custody in the Norfolk jail. He knew that he had an HVAC system background. … He knew all of this. … It was like I was a member of the family.”
Then the caller says something that makes Prettyman suspicious.
“It was kind of weird. He knew everything about Bohan, so he knows him somehow,” Prettyman said. “And he specifically said, ‘I don’t want to be named. I’ve never been to jail, and I don’t want to start now.’ I wonder if he was afraid of getting caught and was somehow involved.”
Following our report and that call, Prettyman then called Virginia Beach Police.
“They said ‘we were just alerted by Norfolk that we may have a person of interest in custody,” Prettyman said. “I said, “Well I can give you some information?” So, I gave them what I knew, and the guy said, ‘”I’m going to send someone over to Norfolk to speak with them.”
Virginia Beach Police then charged Bohan with felony grand larceny for allegedly taking the HVAC system.
Prettyman said this about our 10 on Your Side story.
“You certainly connected our crime to the Norfolk crimes for sure,” Prettyman said. “And I think they were reluctant, maybe, to connect those two [events]. We had a lot of good information from the anonymous call.”
The good news today is that Studio Center has a new, bigger, more secure HVAC system. 10 On Your Side reached out to Bohan, who declined an interview request. He remains in jail without bond, and his next court date on the Norfolk charges is July 7.
