More Copper Thieves Captured By Joliet Police: English

JOLIET, IL — One of the most often visited locations for criminal activity around Joliet remains the shuttered U.S. Steel plant on the city's east side. Joliet Patch has written numerous crime stories over the past year about arrests made on the property, but until this week, there had been no fires. Then on Tuesday morning, Joliet police officers on routine patrol spotted smoke coming from the property.

An investigation into the fire resulted in a pair of arrests for 35-year-old Pedro Rodriguez-Castaneda and his 47-year-old acquaintance, Erick Mazariegos-Roldan. Both men were given their notice to appear in court on charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools, criminal trespass and criminal damage to property.

According to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English, the following events led to the arrests of Rodriguez and Mazariegos:

At 9:28 a.m. Tuesday, officers spotted smoke coming from the property of U.S. Steel near the 900 block of Collins Street. Officers found several small fires inside the abandoned building. The Joliet Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire.

At the property, officers discovered a large amount of stripped copper wire as well as a Jeep Compass missing a driver’s side tire, a Polaris Sportsman ATV, and numerous tools, such as power saws, axe, and a generator.

No one was located inside the building. Both the Jeep Compass and the ATV were towed from the scene. The owner of the ATV is still under investigation.

As the investigation unfolded, Joliet police obtained surveillance video from a nearby business and video showed two males exiting the building carrying a vehicle tire.

A short time later, the Joliet Police Department received a call from Rodriguez-Castaneda trying to report his Jeep Compass stolen from the 100 block of Cass Street.

Officers realized this was the same Jeep Compass located inside the US Steel building.

Officers responded to the Cass Street address and spoke to Rodriguez-Castaneda and Mazariegos-Roldan and noticed that both men matched the descriptions of the males seen on surveillance footage. Officers noted that both men smelled of smoke.

"When Officers challenged the stolen vehicle claim, Rodriguez-Castaneda and Mazariegos-Roldan both indicated their involvement in committing the burglary and both were placed into custody without incident," English announced.

Rodriguez comes from the 100 block of Union Avenue while Mazariegos lives in the 200 block of Parks Avenue.

Related Joliet Patch coverage of the U.S. Steel property:

Man Fights For Life After Fall At Abandoned US Steel Plant

Here's How Joliet Police Caught 2 U.S. Steel Burglars: Cops

Another Arrest At U.S. Steel For Joliet Woman: Cops