An incident of employee theft reported at a local business and a suspect arrested on Friday. According to the Sheriff's Department report, Steve Ayers of JP Smith Lumber Company reported that he caught Jeffery Deberry, an employee, loading an aluminum pre-cooler onto the back of his pickup before work that morning just before 7:30 a.m. A witness said he confronted Deberry about the incident and Deberry reportedly admitted loading the equipment onto his truck. The witness also said Deberry told him he planned to sell the pre-cooler valued at $800, according to the report. Deberry, a resident of LaFayette, was charged with theft by taking and transported to the Chattooga County Jail without incident.