Suspicion:  stolen peaches re-sold

Oconee Sheriff’s Office has traced the theft of four thousand pounds of peaches to a pair of Greenville County men who have been arrested and charged.  Law enforcement records show grand larceny and trespassing charges against Donald Andrew New, 38 years old; and Scottie Phil Randall Ledford, 23.  The theft at the Clemson Peach Tree Farms on S. Friendship Road was reported August 22.  In his investigation, a sheriff’s officer learned that the suspects may have been staying at the Oconee Point Campground, which borders the Clemson University peach orchard.  And further he learned that farm employees made calls to vendors to determine if the thieves had re-sold or tried to re-sell the take.  The stolen “Big Red” breed peaches were estimated to carry a value of between $3 and $5 thousand dollars.