June 30, 2023 - Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office officials report that on December 10th, 2022, at about 12:30 in the afternoon a deputy took a report of a theft of an Ashford spinning wheel with unique markings from an unlocked vehicle in the area of Mono Way and Cavalieri Road. Six months later, on June 21st, 2023, at about noon deputies received a report from the victim that she saw her spinning wheel was listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
Through their investigation, deputies were able to locate the seller, 57-year-old John Rizzuto, in the area of the junction shopping center where they made a traffic stop on the vehicle, he was a passenger in. Deputies searched the vehicle and located the spinning wheel. Deputies searched Rizzuto and found approximately 4 grams gross weight of Fentanyl.
Rizzuto was arrested and transported to the Dambacher Detention Center (DDC) on charges of possession of stolen property and possession of a narcotic controlled substance. The owner of the spinning wheel was later happily reunited with her property.
Source & photos: Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office
