Fred Durst Victim in $3000 Theft, Cops Track Down His Stuff and Suspect

Fred Durst almost lost thousands of dollars worth of stuff to a thief who got into his yard, but thanks in part to security cameras ... all that gear is back in his possession, and alleged crook's in custody.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a 30-year-old man walked through a gate onto Fred's L.A. area property Friday and made his way to the backyard, where he stumbled across a Tesla charger, a violin and a few other things. Apparently, he thought the Limp Bizkit frontman was running some kinda 5-finger discount program, because cops say he jacked all of it.

We're told the stuff was valued at about $3,000.

Our sources say the guy also tried to break into the house, but wasn't able to because everything was locked. Cops say Fred wasn't home at the time, but his family was.

Cops were eventually called, and although the suspect had left by then ... he wasn't out of the woods. Cops say he was spotted later that same night, and arrested by cops thanks to video FD had of the incident.