475 pound heist on Josephine Avenue

By George P. Hassett

Someone stole 475 pounds of cast iron metal off the new pavement of Josephine Avenue Sunday night, according to police, and no one saw a thing.

The suspect traveled along Josephine Avenue, from Kidder to Broadway, and stole 20 manhole and 15 water gate covers, police said.

The manhole covers weigh at least 20 pounds and the water gate covers weigh five pounds, said Somerville Police Captain Paul Upton. They had been taken from the street and stacked on top of one another as work crews repaved the road and replaced sewer infrastructure, according to city spokeswoman Lesley Delaney Hawkins.

“They’re not light,” Upton said. “It took some time for it to happen.”

The police do not have a suspect. Upton said residents have not been able to provide police with information. None, he said, reported hearing or seeing 475 pounds of metal taken from their street between 5 and 10 p.m.

Last night police sent out an automated call to every home within four square blocks of Josephine Avenue asking for help.

“Not only is this a crime but it presented a serious safety concern for anyone walking or driving along this street,” Upton said in the message.

The weighty heist begs the question: how did it happen? Any scenario it seems would involve a vehicle with a lot of storage room. But Upton said there are other possibilities.

“It’s not inconceivable that someone living right on the street rolled them into their backyard,” he said.

“It’s unlikely but you can’t rule any possibility out.”

Police are asking anyone with information to contact Somerville Police Detective Ernest Nadile at 617 625-1600, extension 7235.  They said all leads will be kept confidential. 

Comments

[Willy Whistle Blower]

has anyone seen a PT Kelly truck....LOL

[sick and tired]

Why don't we ask the torpedo lady

[Friend of Ward 6]

RUN JOEY RUN

hello somerville news readers of the blog
what a great song that came out in the 1970s by David Geddes RUN JOEY RUN

[rmd]

time to ask all the scrap dealers.

[Timmy Jingle]

or ask the "Crap" dealers in city hall.
Maybe the show Unsolved Mysteries" should film in Somerville, too many stories !

[Tricky]

A) Seriously, what's the going rate for 475 pounds of manhole covers? Sixty, seventy bucks?

B) And who's buying manhole covers? I can see cast-iron radiators or copper pipes, where you could (ostensibly) have reasonable amount from demolition work. It's not like you've got manhole covers lying around your basement...

[city slicker]

Maybe they should just check behind the beer refigerator in the building department. Since the secret credit union account might be closed. They cannot drop it off for junk money until its safe.
Its only about a year or so ago the dpw city of somerville vehicle was seen in the fine city of Everett dropping off some valuable metals.
Lets not forget all those plaques and other monument items that were sent to the grave for a few bucks.
Whoa an important thought those items were heavy they may not have taken them since it would require more effort than scratching a lottery ticket.
Dont always lay blame on the only lady in the yard!!
Maybe the closet pco can solve this one. He's going into everyones closet isn't he?

[Jeanine Jenks Farley]

There was a feature about this on CNBC today. Apparently manhole covers are being stolen across the country, from California to Chicago to Philly. They said it is because of the demand for scrap metal in China. (They also said manhole covers weigh 150 pounds each.) They said scrap dealers pay $10 per manhole cover.

Maybe the cops should check out scrap dealers or boats heading to China.

[Wrong Facts]

Upton is such a moron. Do the math. A sewer cover weighs approximately 450 pounds. 20 of them are missing. My calculator total reads 9,500 Pounds worth of sewer covers. Not 450 pounds as stated. The water gate covers weigh about 5 pounds each. It is reported that 15 were stolen. That's 75 pounds. (No calculator required)

The headlines should have read

"5 TON HEIST ON JOSEPHINE AVE"

[bad sign for the economy]

When people start stealing manhole covers, its a good indicator that the economy is not doing so well! This is only the begining. Good heist, too bad thease criminals don't focuss their energy in the business world. I give them credit for thinking outside the box!

[Timmy Jingle]

check Kotys pockets, last time I saw him out he used them for spare change,

[JARfromWard3]

To Jeanine:

It is illegal for scrap dealers to receive large, multiple items from individuals without proper documentation. Manhole covers are a perfect example of this. Another is copper wire.

About 10 years ago, there was an employee of Cambridge Electric Light Co. who was selling short cuts of copper wire to a scrap metal dealer in Everett. This probably wouldn't have not been a big deal if it were typical household-grade wire cuttings (6-8 AWG and smaller) but the guy was bringing in utility-grade Okonite cable pieces (about 2" diameter) and he was bringing in a LOT of it!

The receiving dealer, concerned about the source, reported it to Boston Edison thinking that it may have been one of their employees. Edison or one of their assigns set up a camera and upon ID'ing the person determined it was a CELCo employee and the company was notified.

The resulting sting netted a HUGE pile of copper in the guy's basement in Burlington that was shown on local news stations. It was conservatively estimated that he'd made off with $20K worth of copper (back before the price went through the roof). Estimates I heard around the company at the time were closer to $100K... embarrassing to say the least.

Bottom line is that these scrap dealers risk being charged with trafficking in stolen goods if things like manhole covers and the like are being stolen only to be turned in for their scrap value.

If they were vigilant enough to catch a copper thief 10 years ago, one can only assume that they're vigilant enough to spot someone dealing wholesale in specialty castings like those taken from Josephine Ave.

73
JAR

[Ron Newman]

What I'd like to know is, how do you steal this many manhole covers without making enough noise to wake up the neighbors?

[Busted!]

Look! The guy is already selling them on ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/MANHOLE-COVER-MAT-24-BOSTON_W0QQitemZ190220611610QQihZ009QQcategoryZ1467QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Jeanine Jenks Farley]

I'm sure it's illegal, but where do you think the covers are going if not to scrap metal dealers? If you google "manhole cover thefts," you can see that this is not only a national problem but a worldwide problem as well. Philadelphia has started locking its covers in place. Other communities have started using concrete covers or covers made of plastics.