Skip to main content

Alleged heist of scrap metal thwarted by Sheriff's deputies

By Howard B. Owens

Five men from Rochester apparently thought they were pretty clever last night when they showed up to the CSX railroad tracks on Route 98 in the Town of Batavia with a plan to use a logging truck to steal scrap metal.

Not clever enough, though, to avoid observation by Sheriff's Deputies.

Deputy Chief Jerry Brewster told WBTA this morning that lawmen watched the alleged would-be thieves load the scrap metal onto the the logging truck and then tailed the vehicle into Batavia where the truck was stopped in a well-lit area.

The scrap metal was owned by Ed Arnold Scrap Processors of Corfu.

The five men arrested in connection with the case are:

Christopher H. Monfort, 37, of 113 Pine Street, East Rochester, charged with two counts of grand larceny. Monfort allegedly stole scrap valued in excess of $12,000 during the weekend of June 19-21. In last night's case, he's accused of trying to steal scrap worth more than $4,000. He is held without bail.

Anthony Toscano, 44, 918 S. Goodman St., Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is held without bail.

Richard E. Riedman, 35, 542 Klem Road, Webster, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held on $15,000 bail.

Anthony J. Russell, 35, of 75 Snug Harbor Court, Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Timothy M. Stone, 29, 3735 Chili Ave., Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held on $10,000 bail.

Assisting the Sheriff's Office were the State Police and the Batavia Police Department.

Karen Miconi

Sad how desperate these guys are. I wonder where they were going to cash it in, maybe Lyell Metal. If they would have tryed to take it to Ed, he would have busted them anyway.

Jun 30, 2009, 1:33pm Permalink
Laura Scarborough

wow, these guys were pretty organized, a logging truck and a pretty good sized crew. nice job to all the law enforcement that was involved.

Jun 30, 2009, 2:15pm Permalink
Jeff Allen

Be careful Bea, last time I implied that criminals mistakenly assumed our area was an easy target for crime, I was accused of the kind of thinking that led to hate crimes legislation.
Maybe it wasn't a crime at all, perhaps they intended on using the scarp metal for a worthy cause and were acting "responsibly". We should quit wasting our tax dollars arresting people for stealing things!

Jun 30, 2009, 5:42pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Posted by Jeff Allen on June 30, 2009 - 5:42pm
Be careful Bea, last time I implied that criminals mistakenly assumed our area was an easy target for crime, I was accused of the kind of thinking that led to hate crimes legislation.
Maybe it wasn't a crime at all, perhaps they intended on using the scarp metal for a worthy cause and were acting "responsibly". We should quit wasting our tax dollars arresting people for stealing things!

You are so right! How silly of me. ummm, they were removing the scrap metal because it was an attractive nusience and they didn't want anyone to get hurt. That would be responsible thinking.

Jun 30, 2009, 6:16pm Permalink

Authentically Local