Catonsville Crime: Utility Poles Stripped of Wires
The following information is provided by the Baltimore County Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.
The following are summaries of incidents reported in Precinct One/Wilkens of the Baltimore County Police Department.
Theft: On May 22 and May 23, someone cut and removed grounding wires from at least 30 BGE poles around downtown Catonsville, including on the 500 block of Forest Lane.
Second-degree burglary: Sometime between 8 p.m. on May 24 and 6:25 a.m. on May 25, someone broke into the storage shed and concession stand behind Catonsville Middle School. According to the police report, the concession stand was ransacked and some items were thrown onto the field.
Attempted burglary: Someone tried to break into the Shell Gas Station located at 925 Frederick Road, between 10 p.m. on May 24 and 9:56 a.m. on May 25. According to the police report, the side door was pried open but nothing appeared to be taken.
Robbery: At 2 a.m. on May 24, a man sitting at the bus stop on the 6400 block of Frederick Road was assaulted by two men. Police said $25 was taken. The victim was taken to Saint Agnes Hospital, where he was treated and released.
For questions about this blotter, email penny.riordan@patch.com.
Kimberly Shugars
7:06 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
I know why they cut the wires on utility poles, to get the copper, but for gods sake, they got 30 of them without anyone noticing ? The homeowners in these area's must not be paying attention to unusual activities in their neighborhoods.
Valerie Androutsopoulos
8:50 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
I am sure BGE has reported this to www.scraptheftalert.com, an initiative by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) to help combat metals' theft. We had parts stolen off of our commercial vehicles over Memorial Day weekend. Shame on the scrap dealers that buy the stolen merchandise, jeopardiizing the safety of the community and the livelihood of local businesses.
Gina
9:20 am on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Actually the neighbors in our Neighborhood watch do pay attention. In our neighborhood directly there were over a dozen poles hit over night between the hours of 11pm & 6am most of the hits were reported to police around 7am. We can't stay up 24hr patrolling our streets.
Aliza Worthington
6:08 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
And your neighbors THANK YOU, Gina, for all you do to help us stay alert and safe.
Penny Riordan
1:24 pm on Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Just to clarify about how we post crime information on Patch. The Arbutus editor (as we share the same police precinct) typically go to the police station twice a week to get the reports. I typically do a roundup of crime reports weekly, but sometimes more if there is a bigger story. Because of the holiday, we didn't go on Monday, so this information is a tad more outdated than most weeks just because of the logistics of this past week.
With that said, I also know neighborhood residents emailed about the incident specifically on Forest Lane the morning after it happened on a crime listserv.