Police: Four Suspects Charged for Scrap Metal Theft

Four men were charged with trespassing and theft after police said they stole scrap metal from a property on Bethel Road in Mt. Airy.

Late Thursday afternoon, Travis Waddell, 19,  Branden Battle, 19, Adam Nicholas Toth, 22, all from Mt. Airy, and Dwayne Douglas Frazier, 32 of Boyds, were each charged with trespassing and theft according to a police report.  In addition, TWaddell was charged with possession of marijuana.

Police said deputies responded to the 5800 block of Bethel Road in Mt. Airy to investigate a theft complaint at about 1:45 p.m. on Nov. 1. Police said the property owner observed the four men loading scrap metal from the property into a white Ford Ranger truck and confronted them. 

The thieves unloaded some of the scrap metal before fleeing, police said. The property owner provided the deputies with the truck’s registration number and that information led the deputies to the four suspects, according to a police report.

Deputies confronted the men at a home in the 7800 block of East Hill Road near Mt. Airy and the suspects disclosed that they had sold the scrap metal to a processing company, police said.

Additionally, during the interview of Waddell, deputies detected the odor of marijuana and after a police inquiry, Waddell voluntarily surrendered approximately 28 grams of marijuana to the deputies, according to police.

All  four men were issued criminal citations for the offenses with a court date to be assigned at a later date. Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact Detective Chris Youman at 410-386-2900, or the toll free anonymous TIPS Hotline at 1-888-399-TIPP (8477).