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Two state workers charged as thieving Longfellow lunkheads
By adamg on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 7:52pm
A pair of Conservation and Recreation workers were arrested today on charges they sold decorative railings from the Longfellow Bridge for scrap, the Middlesex County DA's office announced.
The two allegedly made $12,000 for the 91,260 pounds of metal, which they loaded and hauled away with a state Bobcat and dump truck over several Saturdays in July and August, prosecutors say. The state estimates it will cost $500,000 to $700,000 to replicate the castings, which were melted down by an Everett scrap dealer and which had been stored in a Stoneham yard while the bridge underwent repairs.
Richard Stewart, 42, of Saugus, and Joseph Falzone, 43, of Nashua, NH, were arraigned in Malden District Court today on 12 counts of receiving stolen goods and 12 counts of conspiracy.
Stewart is the DCR Middlesex Fells District Manager and Falzone is a DCR employee.
Prosecutors did not say if either of the two was the DCR worker suspended for eight days last week for selling non-Longfellow scrap from the same yard to pay for a party for co-workers.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
scrap dealers need to get recycled. I bet it was Minichiello
which were melted down by an Everett scrap dealer and which had been stored in a Stoneham yard while the bridge underwent repairs.
What the hell? These dudes show up with FORTY FIVE TONS of identical ornate metal pieces, and the scrap dealer doesn't think, "gee, now why would two dudes have forty five tons of this stuff?" This isn't some home improvement project scraps. And when they're showing up in a truck owned by the DCR, but the money isn't going to a DCR account...well, these fuckers knew exactly what the score was, but they were all too happy to make a quick buck.
Why hasn't the "Everett scrap dealer" been charged with receiving stolen property? The report mentions them several times, but never by name. However, there's only one scrap metal yard listed in the yellow pages for Everette: Minichiello Bros.
??
There's about 8 scrap metal places within 5 minutes of each other on the Everett/Chelsea line. Try the google before slandering Minichello next time.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie...
Jinx
Yeah, I was going to say exactly the same thing, both regarding why the scrap dealer hasn't been charged and why on earth the scrap dealer didn't question where they got the stuff. I mean, even the shadiest of pawn shops know to refuse stuff like professional musical instruments or antique paintings when the person bringing them in is totally clueless about the details of the item and/or is clearly way underestimating the value. And pawn brokers aren't even usually that well versed in most of what they're buying, whereas someone working at a scrap yard is clearly going to know a lot about metal. They should be even less accepting of "gee, I don't know what this stuff is; it was lying around grandma's attic when she died" than a pawn broker is.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
twisted logic
i cant buy a box of nightitme cold medicine without being put on the governments meth watch list but i can sell thousands of dollars in scrap metal with no questions asked?
Stupid laws & regulations.
This is how new regulations and laws spawned. Dumb ass greedy people who want to make a dime anyway they can. I’m talking about the scrap yard owners! Constantly looking the other way when, obvious to most people, looted & stolen metal shows up at their yard.
How about some accountably. Either they get their shit together or someone makes them.
If scrap yards were held accountable ...
they would all be taken out on the basis of their environmental problems alone. My son had a soccer match with Everett and the field went right up to the Minicello scrap operation - it was noisy, dusty, and a real blight. That is just the sensory issues - the runoff from crushing cars, lead leaching, etc. is horrendous.
The problem is that they really can't pass on the cost of vigillance and being a good neighbor to their customers - they are in a global market for wretched refuse and can only make a profit by playing fast and loose with the rules, etc.
Better still,
either this:
or they should be forced out of business altogether.
Why should the taxpayers pay for this?
Can't the state bill this to the scrap metal yards, and then seize their property if they don't pay the bill?
Minichiello Brothers
Before you all bash the company, maybe you should get your facts straight! The scrap metal company cooperated in the investigation. All of the metal wasn't brought in at one time and when a person shows up in a State or City vehicle which had ID's on them....the scrap company would only assume it is "scrap" from a demo job or some construction job. Every other time a state or city vehicle shows up....the stuff isn't stolen. The metal didn't show up looking like it did when it was taken from the site, I'm sure. As far as the comment from the dad at the park...That company doesn't crush cars so right there you're wrong and your sons game is being played in a "Industrial" area. All the codes are being met, maybe you should bring this up with the league and ask that your child isn't scheduled to play his games at "Industrial" sites...did you forget to mention that the park is across from a POWER PLANT and one of the biggest Iron & Steel Plants in the Country?? NO, you didn't mention that! Please stop bashing the company for a crime 2 people commited. Any action needed to avoid this from happening again has been taken. They employ approx 25 people who support thier families with those jobs so to even mention suing or closing them down is a little unfair. Thanks
Scrap Yards
No matter how much you love you some scrapping operations, I saw no evidence of "environmental controls" at that yard other than a concrete block retaining wall. Those don't protect groundwater from scrap operations and seepage into the nearby river last I checked. I happen to know what I'm looking at. They also don't prevent local particulate pollution characteristic scrap operations - including heavy metals like lead.
I have a friend who was in charge of the installation of the new facilities at the power plant across the street - and I work in air pollution, so I know that the facility is no longer a local pollution issue, if a regional one.
All codes are being met ... IN EVERETT. Say no more. Of course those workers would never bring toxics home on their clothes - like most scrappers have been found to do in occupational surveys. Maybe you should live there if you love it so much.