"It feels good to get the last word in," Kimball said.

When someone stole Daniel Kimball’s vending machine, he didn’t get mad. He got even.

An old blue pickup truck that had once belonged to the alleged thief now hangs upside down in front of Kimball’s Houma business, S3 Supply on Redmond Road, with a sign that reads “This truck belonged to the last person who stole from me ... Don’t take my s#:t and I won’t take yours!”

“It feels good to get the last word in,” Kimball said.

It all began on the morning of March 26 when Kimball showed up to work and noticed his Coke machine was missing. After reviewing security videos that captured the crime, he alerted the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office.

“I own an oilfield company on the east side of Houma,” Kimball said. “There was a guy with a pickup truck who stole my Coke machine right in front of the building.”

Deputies were called out to the scene and began an investigation. They viewed the surveillance video that shows the suspect driving up to Kimball’s business and shoving the Coke machine into the bed of the pickup truck before driving away, Maj. Malcolm Wolfe said.

The video was also shared on social media, and deputies received tips that led to the suspect being identified as 32-year-old Houma resident Randy Sagona Jr., of 3006 Kynes Road, Wolfe said.

“The cops tracked him down, arrested him and impounded the truck,” Kimball said.

Investigators learned that Sagona’s truck was pulled over during an unrelated traffic stop and Sagona was taken into custody. His vehicle was later towed to a wrecker service, Wolfe said.

Deputies went to the Terrebonne parish jail and interviewed Sagona about the theft and he confessed to stealing the $3,000 Coke machine, Wolfe said. The suspect was then charged with felony theft.

As Kimball brainstormed ways to prevent future thefts, an idea popped into his head. As soon as the towing company impounded the suspect’s truck he began the process of acquiring the vehicle for himself.

“They received the title from the truck (Sagona) was driving, so I went to them on Oct. 11 and bought the truck,” Kimball said. “I had a sign made and hung the truck 15-20 feet in the air with a forklift.”

Kimball hopes the truck serves as a message to any other would-be thieves.

“Losing all that money from the Coke machine sucks, but it feels good to have the opportunity to stand up for myself,” he said. “I turned a bad situation into something good.”

For Kimball, buying the suspect’s truck was the best $1,000 he ever spent.