An accused scrap metal thief, who was out on parole, strikes a local park and DNR property.
Saginaw County Sheriff's Deputies arrested the suspect Tuesday afternoon after finding the items at Hoerner's Auto Parts and Scrap in Swan Creek Township Tuesday morning.
Sometime over the weekend someone stole four large heavy steel gates from the DNR's property near St. Charles.
Deputies say the same person stole aluminum from the Swan Creek Township Park.
Six bleacher benches were taken. They were cut up into sections and taken to the scrapyard. Add that metal with the gates, and it's about $149 worth of metal from the scrapyard. It's going to cost at least that much to replace just one of the benches.
The DNR says it'll cost $4,500 to $5,000 to replace the gates.
Swan Creek Township is still determining how much it'll cost to replace the benches.
Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel says, "A lot of family members that are going to the little league game this weekend won't be able to sit down and watch the game because these people stole bleacher seats. It's just pathetic."
The scrapyard says, the person who turned in the metal was recently behind bars and dropped off loads daily, sometimes twice.
Federspiel says, "They need to be prosecuted. We need to send a strong message that we're not going to tolerate that in our county."
The sheriff says he's taking a closer look at scrapyards as well to make sure they're complying with the law.
Sheriff's deputies arrested the suspect Tuesday afternoon.
The sheriff says, Michigan law requires scrappers to show identification when dropping off metal for money.
