PD: Man Caught Stealing Scrap Metal for Heroin Addiction

A 24-year-old Clinton man was found burglarizing an automotive center on East Main Street in Middletown, stealing scrap metal to support his heroin addiction, Middletown Police say.

On Feb. 19 at 7:49 p.m., police were sent to Glenn’s Automotive for a burglary. A witness saw a man dressed in black jump a fence and throw large items over it. Wayne L. Rogers III of Main Street, Clinton, was seen hiding under a white tow truck with a catalytic converter he admitted to taking, the report says.

A patdown search revealed a blue zip-up pouch with two syringes with orange caps and a small white fold with heroin inside, police say.

He admitted to police taking four $40 radiators, five catalytic converters worth $80 each, three $12 car batteries, and two $100 engine heads — $796 in total. He told police he was going to walk to the post office on Silver Street and sell it all as scrap metal to a friend for money, then buy heroin for his addiction, according to police.

Rogers was arrested for third-degree burglary, fifth-degree larceny, possession of narcotics, non-student possessing drugs near school, and use of drug paraphernalia.