Such thefts, driven by the high cost of metals, have skyrocketed in recent years.
Roberto VegaSPRINGFIELD – A fast-acting passerby helped police interrupt the theft of copper piping from a vacant city-owned home in the North End Tuesday night.
Sgt. John M. Delaney said police arrested two suspects who had been in the process of cutting up piping inside the vacant home at 11 Jefferson Ave.
The incident began about 6 p.m. as Officer Raul Gonzalez, parked at Main Street and Jefferson Avenue, issued a citation to a motorist, Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, said. A pedestrian came running over and told Gonzalez that thieves had entered the home.
When Gonzalez pulled his cruiser into the driveway, he saw a male walk out a side door that had been broken into. Delaney said the officer handcuffed the suspect and then saw another male exit the doorway with a “deer in headlights,” shocked look on his face.
That suspect did an about-face and ran back into the house. Other officers, arriving on scene, arrested the suspect after he ran out the back and jumped a fence.
Rolando Pabon, 46, of 65 Leslie St., and Roberto Vega, 44, of 27 Alice St., were charged with breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony and malicious damage to property,
Rolando PabonVega had a number of Holyoke default warrants, Delaney said.
The city has been hit with a number of such thefts, driven by the skyrocketing costs of metals, in recent years.
The most recent case, involving an astonishingly massive amount of metal, was discovered Tuesday at Associated Building Wreckers at 223 Brookdale Ave.
Delaney said that six 40 to 50 foot long metal bridge beams, worth about $10,000, had been taken from the business some time last week.
Such beams weigh about 300 pounds per foot and heavy equipment would have been required to steal them.
Last week, police arrested a suspect in the theft of 14 sewer grates from streets in the Sixteen Acres neighborhood, valued at about $200 apiece.