Alleged heist of scrap metal thwarted by Sheriff's deputies

Posted by Howard Owens on June 30, 2009 - 12:12pm
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Five men from Rochester apparently thought they were pretty clever last night when they showed up to the CSX railroad tracks on Route 98 in the Town of Batavia with a plan to use a logging truck to steal scrap metal.

Not clever enough, though, to avoid observation by Sheriff's Deputies.

Deputy Chief Jerry Brewster told WBTA this morning that lawmen watched the alleged would-be thieves load the scrap metal onto the the logging truck and then tailed the vehicle into Batavia where the truck was stopped in a well-lit area.

The scrap metal was owned by Ed Arnold Scrap Processors of Corfu.

The five men arrested in connection with the case are:

Christopher H. Monfort, 37, of 113 Pine Street, East Rochester, charged with two counts of grand larceny. Monfort allegedly stole scrap valued in excess of $12,000 during the weekend of June 19-21. In last night's case, he's accused of trying to steal scrap worth more than $4,000. He is held without bail.

Anthony Toscano, 44, 918 S. Goodman St., Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is held without bail.

Richard E. Riedman, 35, 542 Klem Road, Webster, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held on $15,000 bail.

Anthony J. Russell, 35, of 75 Snug Harbor Court, Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Timothy M. Stone, 29, 3735 Chili Ave., Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held on $10,000 bail.

Assisting the Sheriff's Office were the State Police and the Batavia Police Department.

Posted by Bea McManis on June 30, 2009 - 12:14pm
Maybe these city guys will get the message that Mayberry isn't the place to come for an easy heist.
Job well done!
Posted by Andrew Erbell on June 30, 2009 - 12:23pm
All but one of those "city" guys lived in the Suburbs of Monroe County.
Posted by Peter O'Brien on June 30, 2009 - 12:28pm
Rochester's mailing district is twice the size of the city.
Posted by Karen Miconi on June 30, 2009 - 12:33pm
Sad how desperate these guys are. I wonder where they were going to cash it in, maybe Lyell Metal. If they would have tryed to take it to Ed, he would have busted them anyway.
Posted by Laura Scarborough on June 30, 2009 - 1:15pm
wow, these guys were pretty organized, a logging truck and a pretty good sized crew. nice job to all the law enforcement that was involved.
Posted by Jeff Allen on June 30, 2009 - 4:42pm
Be careful Bea, last time I implied that criminals mistakenly assumed our area was an easy target for crime, I was accused of the kind of thinking that led to hate crimes legislation.
Maybe it wasn't a crime at all, perhaps they intended on using the scarp metal for a worthy cause and were acting "responsibly". We should quit wasting our tax dollars arresting people for stealing things!
Posted by Bea McManis on June 30, 2009 - 5:16pm
Posted by Jeff Allen on June 30, 2009 - 5:42pm
Be careful Bea, last time I implied that criminals mistakenly assumed our area was an easy target for crime, I was accused of the kind of thinking that led to hate crimes legislation.
Maybe it wasn't a crime at all, perhaps they intended on using the scarp metal for a worthy cause and were acting "responsibly". We should quit wasting our tax dollars arresting people for stealing things!

You are so right! How silly of me. ummm, they were removing the scrap metal because it was an attractive nusience and they didn't want anyone to get hurt. That would be responsible thinking.
Posted by terry paine on July 1, 2009 - 7:38am
Just wondering how it would have turned out if the police didn't already know when and where the crime was going to take place.