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Increase in metal thefts tied to drugs

Scott Dare was out to dinner around 7:30 Friday night when he got a call that police had found two storm-sewer grates missing from a Fort Washington shopping center.

Scott Dare was out to dinner around 7:30 Friday night when he got a call that police had found two storm-sewer grates missing from a Fort Washington shopping center.

"By 9:30 p.m., it was up to eight; by the end of the night, it was a total of 13," said Dare, vice president of Dare Living Associates, which manages the center and other commercial properties.

Copper pipes, metal shopping carts, air conditioners, bronze mausoleum doors from grave sites - all have been recent hot targets for thieves, and police believe that drugs are the motivating force.

This week, two Montgomery County brothers were charged with theft and related offenses in the theft of about 1,000 storm-sewer grates, valued at $500,000, in several towns in the region and selling them for about $9,000 as scrap over a six-week period.

Police said the brothers sold the grates, which weigh about 100 pounds each and cost $475, to two Philadelphia scrap-metal yards.

Kevin Steele, Montgomery County first assistant district attorney, said his office is investigating the case and is working with the other jurisdictions involved.

Determining that the firm's operators broke the law, police said, isn't a simple exercise.

"They could be contractors that legitimately have" the grates, said Lt. Michael Martin of the Upper Merion Township police.

A charge of receiving stolen property would require evidence of knowledge that the materials were stolen, officials said.

Recent legislation has taken aim at the issue.

The Scrap Material Theft Prevention Act, signed in June, requires dealers to keep records of sales and sellers to provide identification. It also bars individuals from selling "railroad materials," limiting such sales to commercial dealers.

A bill in New Jersey that would require more oversight for scrap-metal dealers is awaiting Senate approval after passing in the Assembly in September.

In the recent case, officials credited good communication among area police departments and the sharp eye of an officer with putting an end to what they said was a storm-grate crime spree.

On Saturday, Upper Merion Officer Michael Laverty spotted a pickup truck that matched the description of the vehicle used in previous thefts at a King of Prussia supermarket.

When questioned, brothers Brian Vetrulli, 36, and John Vetrulli Jr., 38, of Gilbertsville, said they stole the grates and sold them to support their heroin addictions. The two were charged Saturday with theft and related offenses. They remain at the Montgomery County jail with bail set at $10,000 each.

Dare said about 130 grates were stolen from 20 of his firm's clients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He said he did not know if the thefts were connected to the Vetrullis and has contacted law enforcement officials.

His company is marking the replacement grates with identification information and painting the bottoms bright red to discourage thefts.

"We felt helpless during the siege of thefts," Dare said.

mschaefer@phillynews.com

610-313-8111

@MariSchaefer