Stolen Trim From Longfellow Bridge Melted Down
Officials Say State Workers Stole Metal Being Stored At Labor Yard
POSTED: 12:48 pm EDT September 11,
2008
UPDATED: 6:19 pm EDT September 11,
2008
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BOSTON -- Hundreds of feet of decorative, cast-iron trim from the Longfellow Bridge taken from a Stoneham labor yard was sold and melted down after being stolen by two state workers, officials said Thursday.Richard Stewart, 42, of Saugus, a Department of Conservation and Recreation district manager, and Joseph Falzone, 43, of Nashua, N.H., a DCR employee, were charged with taking the trim from a labor yard, where it was to be refurbished before being reattached to the bridge.
Stolen Trim From Longfellow Bridge Melted DownStewart and Falzone were each charged with 12 counts of receiving stolen goods and 12 counts of conspiracy. The men were accused of selling the metal to an Everett scrap yard for $12,000.At their arraignment Thursday, the men pleaded not guilty to charges that they stole about 100,000 pounds of metal. They were each held on $7,500 bail."To underscore the greed of these actions, both of these men are alleged to have received $12,000 for what would be $500,000 to $700,000 to restore or reconstruct the pieces of the Longfellow Bridge," Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone said."We will take this as the absolute most serious matter as this unfolds, and I can tell you we have suspended both employees without pay," DCR Commissioner Richard Sullivan said.Officials said that Stewart had recently been suspended for selling scrap metal from the same labor yard and using the money to throw a picnic for lifeguards and summer help. At the time, DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox said he sold the metal for $400 and made full restitution for the money he had received.Last year between Sept. 20 and Oct. 9, approximately 3,467 linear feet of the decorative parapet coping was removed from the outside edge of the bridge while repairs were under way.Individual sections were removed from the bridge with a crane, loaded onto 10-wheel dump trucks and flatbed trucks, and transported to the state's Stoneham Labor Yard. Each section is 7 feet long, 2 feet wide, 3.8 inches thick, and weighs 350 pounds.The sections were stacked neatly in piles of 13 or 14 sections each in a fenced-in corner of the yard. DCR staff members observed and documented the removal, transport, and storage operations.
Stolen Trim From Longfellow Bridge Melted DownStewart and Falzone were each charged with 12 counts of receiving stolen goods and 12 counts of conspiracy. The men were accused of selling the metal to an Everett scrap yard for $12,000.At their arraignment Thursday, the men pleaded not guilty to charges that they stole about 100,000 pounds of metal. They were each held on $7,500 bail."To underscore the greed of these actions, both of these men are alleged to have received $12,000 for what would be $500,000 to $700,000 to restore or reconstruct the pieces of the Longfellow Bridge," Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone said."We will take this as the absolute most serious matter as this unfolds, and I can tell you we have suspended both employees without pay," DCR Commissioner Richard Sullivan said.Officials said that Stewart had recently been suspended for selling scrap metal from the same labor yard and using the money to throw a picnic for lifeguards and summer help. At the time, DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox said he sold the metal for $400 and made full restitution for the money he had received.Last year between Sept. 20 and Oct. 9, approximately 3,467 linear feet of the decorative parapet coping was removed from the outside edge of the bridge while repairs were under way.Individual sections were removed from the bridge with a crane, loaded onto 10-wheel dump trucks and flatbed trucks, and transported to the state's Stoneham Labor Yard. Each section is 7 feet long, 2 feet wide, 3.8 inches thick, and weighs 350 pounds.The sections were stacked neatly in piles of 13 or 14 sections each in a fenced-in corner of the yard. DCR staff members observed and documented the removal, transport, and storage operations.
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