Rochester man charged with theft

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 3:14 PM

By Staff report

A Rochester man was recently arrested for theft charges after he allegedly took several items out of a vehicle and also cut out the vehicle's catalytic converter.

Nicholas S. Stahl, 35, of Rochester, was arrested on Feb. 26 and charged with theft where the value of property is between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 Felony.

According to court documents, on Thursday, Feb 26, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office deputies responded about a theft from a vehicle near Akron. The victim stated Stahl had taken their vehicle on Feb. 8 to get it out of the cold during extreme temperatures. When the victim picked up his vehicle from Stahl on Feb. 20, however, he noticed all the items that had been in his vehicle were missing and the catalytic converter had also been cut. The victim stated when they confronted Stahl about the missing items an argument ensued. During the argument Stahl told the victim he had not taken items from the vehicle, but insisted the victim had owed him money.

When officers went to Stahl's residence he initially repeated to officers that he did not take anything from the vehicle and claimed he did nothing wrong. During the conversation with officers Stahl eventually admitted he kept some of the victim's property because of the money the victim owed him for work on their vehicle.

Inside the garage officers eventually discovered a bag full of wrenches and other tools the victim had reported missing. Stahl also admitted to selling some of the items from the victim's vehicle to a friend in Mentone. Officers were unable to locate the person Stahl claimed to sell the items to. Other items that are still missing include the vehicle's catalytic converter, a Milwaukee impact, Milwaukee socket set, Smith industrial torch head, Smith oxygen gauge, Solors large acetylene tank and industrial grade jumper cables.