Florida man accused of stealing Lynyrd Skynyrd memorabilia meant for charity auction

He won’t be a free bird for much longer.

A Florida man is on the run after cops said he stole a trailer loaded with Lynyrd Skynyrd memorabilia and other donations meant to be auctioned off at a recent charity event.

The trailer had more than $12,000 worth of items, including a brand new set of drums, several boxes of autographed photos, a 1957 guitar signed by the late Gregg Allman, of the Allman Brothers Band, and other memorabilia from rock groups like Lynyrd Skynyrd, known for the hits “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” as well as Blackberry Smoke and Peal Jam, according to the Jimmie Van Zant Cancer Charity.

The suspect, 38-year-old William James Walker, is accused of stealing the Horton Hauler Harley-Davidson Edition trailer from a Days Inn hotel in the Jacksonville suburb of Orange Park on April 9, a day before the charity’s cancer benefit event.

“We had large hopes of making great money at the event, however without much to sell, (we’ll) we actually lost money on the event, due to this loss,” the charity said in a Facebook post at the time.

The organization is named after a cousin of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Donnie, Johnny and Ronnie Van Zant. Jimmie Van Zant, who was also a rock musician, died in 2016 after a battle with liver cancer, according to a biography on the charity’s website.

Walker, who was publicly identified Friday after a month-long investigation, is believed to be a transient living out of hotel rooms in the Jacksonville area. He is expected to be charged with grand theft once he’s caught.

Police said the accused thief has a “praying hands” tattoo on his forearm and a spider tattoo on his shoulder. Anyone with information about the suspect was asked to call the Orange Park Police Department of First Coast Crime Stoppers.