LIVE OAK COUNTY — Two men were observed taking materials off a ranch and were later arrested Wednesday, Oct. 24, and charged with theft estimated at a $5,000 value, a state jail felony, according to Sheriff Larry Busby.

Roel Ruiz, 22, of George West, and Ruben Perez, 21, of Three Rivers, were seen by ranch owner Tom Gilmore loading up their truck with various metal objects.

“He had driven out there and saw two guys loading up,” Busby said.

Busby said the two men must have noticed they were being watched and left the scene.

Gilmore’s wife called in the theft at 2:25 p.m., and sheriff’s deputies Cody Wheeler and Eric Mendoza responded.

Wheeler caught up with them and stopped them.

“They were taking scrap metal to a place in Beeville,” Busby said.

“But there were car generators and tools, too,” he said.

The area of the ranch where the theft occurred was near the old Mikeska Store by the railroad tracks and adjacent to County Road 151.

Both men were arrested and placed in the Live Oak County Jail.

Ruiz is out on $4,000 bond set by Justice of the Peace Jim E. Lane.

Perez was still in custody with bond set at $5,000, as of Friday, Oct. 26.