Cops call him a grate thief

David Andrews didn't steal 20 manhole covers, as he was widely publicized as doing, according to the Philadelphia Water Department.

He was, however, arrested Wednesday night for stealing 20 inlet covers and some sewer grates. Police speculated he was going to sell them for scrap metal.

Had he collected manhole covers, as originally reported, Andrews would have been committing some hard work, said Water Department spokesman Ed Grusheski.

"Manhole covers are seriously heavy," Grusheski said. "I could barely handle one."

"But inlet covers only weigh about 20 pounds. They cover storm water inlets, one on each corner of an intersection."

Since the middle of April, the department has been missing more than 600 of the covers.

"We've been replacing them as fast as they are reported gone," Grusheski said, adding that pedestrians stepping off the sidewalk onto a street with no inlet cover could be seriously injured.

"We urge anyone spotting a missing inlet cover to call our hotline at 215-685-6300 and we'll replace it immediately," he said.

Andrews, 38, of Stirling Street near Large, was seen loading an inlet cover onto his truck in the 6700 block of Frontenac Street about 11:30 p.m.

Two officers on routine patrol approached him, but he jumped in his truck and drove south on Frontenac.

The truck, police said, eventually stalled in the 6300 block of Frontenac. Andrews was arrested and charged with theft, receiving stolen property and related offenses.

Grusheski said the Water Department has no idea "what they have been doing with them. It's mind-boggling."

A woman who was reached later at Andrews' home said she was his sister. "He hasn't been home, so I guess he has been arrested," she said. "And if he has been arrested, I guess he won't be home anytime soon." She wouldn't give her name.*