A Stafford man accused of numerous truck mirror thefts will have plenty of time to reflect on the crime as he was placed in jail without bond yesterday.

Over the last three years, there have been numerous reports of side mirrors being stolen from unoccupied tractor trailers in the area. This was especially frustrating for the victims, as the trucks were out of service waiting for a replacement mirror. Deputies and detectives were looking into the thefts and conducting surveillance details, but were unable to crack the case. The thefts were all smoke and mirrors, with no productive leads…until last week when a crafty resident helped solve the crime.

On November 13th, a resident reported the side mirror stolen from his Volvo tractor which was parked on Eskimo Hill Road. Fortunately, the resident had placed an AirTag on the mirror and detectives were able to track the AirTag (and stolen mirror) to an address on Antietam Loop in North Stafford.

Detectives conducted surveillance and on November 20th a search warrant was executed on the home. Detective K.L. Warnick discovered a literal house of mirrors and recovered 206 truck mirrors, including the stolen mirror with the AirTag. Amazingly, the helpful thief had placed a sticker on many of the mirrors, indicating the date and location of the theft. We do not know what the offender sees in truck mirrors, but he had quite the collection.

Carlos Flores Hernandez, 27, has initially been charged with two counts of grand larceny and two counts of tampering with a vehicle, but there is a lot of investigative work left to do. It appears the suspect began stealing side mirrors several years ago and hasn’t looked back since.

The suspect will be able to take a good look at himself as he remains in the Rappahannock Regional Jail. This is an ongoing investigation.