The law finally caught up to a notorious golf car thief.
Nathan Rodney Nelson stole more than 60 golf cars across seven states, making him the man believed to be the most prolific golf car thief in history. And now, he’s behind bars.
The Florida resident, who cut a swathe of thievery mostly across the upper Midwest, was sentenced recently to two years in a Federal prison. The case garnered national and international attention, with newspapers including the New York Times and Washington Post, and other publications as far away as Australia, running stories about it.
Nelson was arrested in June of 2020 while trying to steal golf cars from a dealer in Georgia. By then, the FBI had been investigating him for almost a year after being asked for help by local law enforcement regarding a string of golf car thefts beginning in 2017 in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas.
In all, Nelson is believed to have stolen 63 golf cars worth more than $283,000. He typically struck at night, usually taking two cars at a time. Most of his victims were Midwestern golf courses although he was living in Apollo Beach, Fla., when he was caught. He sometimes used the alias Mason Weber. His defense team said he turned to golf car thievery after his business failed and he was unable to pay his bills.
