ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- Sheriff's deputies in North Carolina say they responded to a call of a possible crop theft to find a suspect stuck in the middle of a field trying to haul off a truckload of stolen watermelons.

The Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that a deputy and a sergeant responded to a call about the possible fruit heist about 60 miles (96 kilometres) outside Raleigh on Friday. That's when they found Michael Anthony Bryant and his pickup stuck in the middle of a field with dozens of reportedly stolen watermelons in the back.

Officers arrested Bryant and charged him with misdemeanour larceny.

He was given a $500 bond and placed in a detention centre.