Scrapyard owner faces charges related to alleged theft of railroad equipment
State police have accused four people, including the husband and wife owners of a recycling business, of allegedly stealing railroad equipment.
Authorities said they received a tip in April that B&R Recycling of Connellsville, owned by Rodney Francis Allen and Linda Ann Carlton-Allen, was in possession of a large amount of railroad equipment that had been stolen.
They recovered 795 steel railroad tie plates inside a trash container at the business, police allege. The tie plates belong to CSX transportation with a total value of $7,000.
Police said the investigation revealed that the tie plates were allegedly stolen by Justin Allen Pirl, 26, of Normalville, and Joseph Miller, 30, of White, who were charged with theft, criminal conspiracy to commit theft.
Rodney Allen, 64, and Linda Allen, 59, both of Breakneck Road in Connellsville — were each charged with one count of receiving stolen property.
The Allens were arraigned Wednesday by Fayette County Magisterial District Judge Richard Kasunic, who set bond at $20,000 unsecured for each of them.
Pirl and Miller were arraigned Thursday before Fayette County District Magisterial District Judge Wendy Dennis, who set each of their bonds at $25,000 unsecured.
According to the criminal complaint, Pirl admitted that he and Miller allegedly stole the plates from the railroad tracks in the Confluence area of Fayette County.
State police Trooper Daniel Boyd alleged that when Pirl and Miller sold the plates to B&R Recycling, Rodney Allen kept telling them to keep bringing the plates in to sale. Pirl reportedly told police that Linda Allen signed the sales receipts each time he allegedly sold the steel plates to B&R Recycling.
The complaint said the plates weigh 30 pounds each and are valued at $9 each.
The charges came less than two weeks after Rodney Allen was sentenced to probation for receiving stolen property, associated with allegations that he was operating a chop shop. A Fayette County judge accepted his no contest plea and sentenced Allen to one year of probation and ordered that he make $2,000 in restitution.
In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of operating a chop shop, conspiracy to operate a chop shop, disposing of a vehicle that was illegally obtained and theft.
The state police Western Region Auto Theft Task Force conducted the investigation that led to the arrest of Allen, owner of Allen’s Garage/B&R Recycling Center on Bellview Drive, Dale R. Naugle, 30, and Joshua A. DeWitt, 28, both of Connellsville.
Police executed a search warrant March 4, 2011, at Allen’s garage, where investigators recovered a white 2005 Ford F150 truck stolen from the rear lot of Davies Ford in Bullskin Township between March 1 and 3. The truck had been stripped of its bed, doors, hood and grill, parts allegedly being used to repair a 2008 Ford F-150, police said.
In the criminal complaint, police said that during the course of the investigation, officers reviewed a March 3 surveillance video from a camera at the garage that allegedly showed a white tilt bed being used to transport a white truck bed to the garage.
The case against DeWitt was dismissed in October for lack of evidence, and Naugle pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate a chop shop in March in exchange for a jail sentence of six to 23 months.