BANGOR, Maine — A Penobscot County sheriff’s deputy arrested two people last week after they allegedly stole scrap metal from a Carmel recycler with the intent of selling it to another recycling company.
Casey Dean McElligott, 27, and Antwon Lamont Vaughan, 22, both were charged on Oct. 1 with burglary and theft, Deputy Ed Toulouse said Friday.
As of Friday night, McElligott remained at Penobscot County Jail, a county corrections official confirmed. Vaughan was being held at Cumberland County Jail, the official said.
Both of the charges filed against McElligott are Class C felonies, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. The burglary charge filed against Vaughan also is a Class C felony.
Toulouse said that the two were arrested after he received a complaint from Keith Drost, the owner of Ideal Recycling in Carmel, who reported that scrap metal had been taken from his company. Drost provided descriptions of the suspects and the vehicle they were traveling in.
Brewer police spotted the suspects’ vehicle on Grove Street and held the driver and passenger until Toulouse arrived and confirmed their alleged involvement with the metal theft.
Last week’s arrest was not McElligott’s first encounter with law enforcement. He was indicted by a Penobscot County grand jury in January on one count of theft, according to the Bangor Daily News archives. A county grand jury also indicted him in September of last year on a theft charge.
Doesn’t sound like hardcore criminals but also doesn’t excuse the crime. We’re getting used to all the gas,oil,wood thefts in this economy…might as well put all these scrap metal thieves in the same bracket with those.
Since these guys like picking up scrap have them work the sides of the roads for scrap cans and whatever else they may find there…
“Doesn’t sound like hardcore criminals but also doesn’t excuse the crime. ”
Right. These poor thieves likely just need a hug.
Steal the scrap metal, sell it to the scrap metal yard, go back and steal it from the scrap metal yard to resell to another scrap metal yard. These guys should be in politics, not in jail.
Ha-ha! Spot on with the methodology! Kind of like the “perpetual motion” machine of recycling! Could turn one bucket of copper fittings into a million dollars in a short time!
Actually – the scrap metal yards need to be regularly inspected.
best comment of the day!
I own a large piece of land in Carmel For years people would dump their scrap metal on my property. I finally had to block the road in with some huge piles of dirt. Hunters and hikers are still welcome. A few years back someone came back and took all of their oil tanks and other junk back. As Jerry Seinfeld said-“Everything evens out.”