An Eldred man was arraigned Wednesday for allegedly taking about $9,000 worth of brass from Ardagh Glass in Port Allegany.
Patrick D. Walker, 51, of 9 First St., is charged with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and theft of secondary metal, all third-degree felonies.
According to the criminal complaint, in August of 2021, Port Allegany police were called to Ardagh Glass where the mould repair manager told police that a substantial amount of used brass had been taken from where it was stored until it was sent for recycling. He showed the police officer that the drums were nearly empty. There were 24 brass moulds, 199 bottom plates and 128 baffles that were unaccounted for, the manager told police.
A rough estimate of the loss was at least $4,000, the complaint stated.
Police met with someone at a recycling center in Allegany, N.Y., who provided documentation and evidence of Walker delivering brass to be recycled for transactions totaling $9,060.95. Police took the documentation back to Ardagh, where human resources identified Walker and said he was an employee, the complaint stated.
Police met with Walker, who said he had collected the scrap from Ardagh from a scrap site, not from the company. Police returned to the recycling center and spoke to the scale operator, who said Walker told him he had gotten the brass at work, the complaint alleged.
Walker was arraigned before District Judge Bill Todd and released on $10,000 unsecured bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 16.
