AUSTINTOWN — A West Side man who is accused of stealing from a business owned by a Austintown Township trustee has posted bond and is due back in court later this month.

According to an Austintown police report, Michael S. Jackson, of Lakeview Avenue in Youngstown, who made an initial appearance by video Monday in Mahoning County Boardman Court, is charged with receiving stolen property and possession of criminal tools, both fifth-degree felonies.

Judge Scott Hunter imposed a $5,000 cash or surety bond. Jackson is due for a preliminary hearing on March 13.

According to the report, Jackson allegedly stole a 14-foot box trailer from the parking lot in front of Austintown Bounce in broad daylight Feb. 25. The business, located in Austintown Plaza, is co-owned by Austintown Township Trustee Bruce Shepas.

The report states that a security camera caught a man driving a red Ford pickup truck “with no visible registration” into the parking lot, removing the trailer lock, hitching the trailer to the truck and driving away.

Austintown Bounce and the Austintown Police Department posted pictures of the trailer and the suspect truck to social media, asking for help locating either or both.

Shepas said that on Thursday, Ohio State Highway Patrol saw the truck, with trailer attached, driving down state Route 46. The trooper followed the truck back to Austintown Plaza, where Austintown police joined them and arrested Jackson.

Shepas added that the man told police he bought the trailer from a fictitious person, and that a note was attached to the trailer saying he was returning it and did not know it was stolen.

“He didn’t know we had him on camera cutting the locks off the trailer,” Shepas said. “I guess he thought he was a ‘smooth criminal.'”

Shepas said he thinks the man may have been returning the trailer because he found out through social media that he’d been caught in the act.

“I don’t know what the truth is, but we at Austintown Bounce are very grateful to OSP and APD and everyone on social media who shared the posts,” Shepas said.