TYLER, Texas — Justin Carlson retired last year from his job as a detective to take on a new venture.
He's now a lawn care professional and the owner of his own company, Lawn and Order.
Carlson and his team were working on the lawn at the Tyler Business Plaza. When he walked back to his truck, he immediately noticed something missing.
After a look at the security footage, it turned out that two of his $700-leaf blowers had been stolen in broad daylight.
"I had the leaf blowers sitting back here because I was about to use them. As soon as I got done, I needed the blowers and I came back over, but they were gone," said Carlson.
What the thieves didn't know, however, was that they had stolen from the one man who may be one of the most qualified to track them down.
Carlson decided to come out of retirement for the day and try to crack the case one more time. His first move: posting the situation on Facebook to try and gain information throughout the community.
"When I was a detective, I knew that reaching out to the community can get you the information that you don't have," said Carlson, "So, I posted it on Facebook, and the community support was just immediately overwhelming. It's not anything I expected."
In just a few hours, the culprits were identified due to his quick detective work. One of his leaf blowers was promptly returned. In place of the other missing item, he received $700 from them to purchase a new blower. Later that day, all his equipment was back and ready to go.
Carlson said he'll be going back into retirement from his detective work. However, the feeling of accomplishment is something he did miss.
"It kind of made me feel good because it's been a year since I started my business and since I've done any investigation. So, I was like... man, I still got it!"