Police: Man Used Crane to Steal Steel

Police say that a Philadelphia man let a crane do the heavy lifting for him in the heist of a 1,500-pound metal plate from a Conshohocken steel mill last month.

Michael Mallory, 29, of the 200 block of North 50th Street, Philadelphia, faces felony burglary, theft, and criminal trespassing charges in connection with the alleged Nov. 20 theft from his employer.

Police filed the charges after reviewing surveillance video that allegedly shows Mallory and an accomplice using a crane to lift the nickel alloy plate onto the bed of truck trailer. In the footage, men who police say are Mallory and another employee are first seen standing by a side door of the facility, located in an industrial area on Conshohocken Road, pointing at a pile of metal plates and the security camera at about 8 p.m. Both employees then exit the facility without setting the alarm, but Mallory returns a minute later and allegedly uses the crane to lift the 1,507-pound plate to a pile closer to a rear garage door.

Mallory then opens the garage door, through which a black Chevrolet Silverado truck with a low tow trailer enters. An unidentified male exits the truck and closes the garage door, and Mallory allegedly again uses the crane to load the plate onto the trailer. After the truck drives off, Mallory closes the garage door, appears to set the building's security alarm, and exits at about 8:30 p.m. 

The manager of the mill told police the plate measured 48 by 96 inches and was valued at approximately $18,804. He also told police that Mallory was not issued the code for the security system, and that the employee seen exiting the facility was the one responsible for setting the alarm during that shift. He provided police with a list of seven other plates that have gone missing since Jan. 1, 2012.

Court records show that Mallory's bail was set at $25,000 and that he is next scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 13 before magisterial justice Francis Bernhardt, III.