Police thwart scheme to steal light poles

[May 15, 2008]  MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) -- Police say a dimwitted scheme to steal light poles from a village storage yard has resulted in two arrests on Long Island. Nassau County Police Lt. Ray Cote said Wednesday that neighbors noticed two men carving up the aluminum poles with a cordless power tool and stashing them in a van under the cover of darkness. He says plainclothes officers arrived and caught the thieves in the act.

Cote says the government pays about $1,000 for a light pole -- and thieves can get about $150 apiece by selling them for scrap metal. He says there are growing efforts to crack down on such metal thefts.

Police say John Baumann and Stephen Freitas -- both Mineola residents -- are charged with fourth-degree grand larceny.

The names of their attorneys could not immediately be determined.

[Associated Press]

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