Four Charged In Scrap Metal Thefts

Four suspects accused of stealing metal from Gateway College in Florence (clockwise from top left): Jimmy Parson, Mitchell Dean, Joshua Stephenson, and Michael Parson.

(Florence, Ky.) – About $15,000 worth of metal stolen from Gateway Community and Technical College in Florence may not be worth the trouble for the four men accused of taking it.

The men were each involved in separate thefts of the metal from the school’s campus on Technology Way. Over the course of nearly a month beginning last November, deputies assigned to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office Scrap Unit began searching for a pickup truck which matched a vehicle captured by surveillance cameras at the college.

They eventually found an identical pickup. On December 30, Michael Parsons, 23, of Covington was arrested on a warrant for Theft by unlawful taking.

Continuing with the investigation they obtained additional felony theft warrants for Joshua Stephenson, 20, and Jimmy Parson, 30, both of Covington, and Mitchell Dean, 24, of Norwood, Ohio.  Those warrants were served Thursday.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Tom Scheben said more charges are anticipated.

Stephenson was served at the Kenton County Jail where he is held in lieu of unrelated charges.  Norwood Police arrested Dean and he is currently being held in the Hamilton County Jail.  With the assistance of the Covington Police, Boone deputies arrested Jimmy Parson, who is being transported to the Boone County Jail.

The arrests made this week are the third set of arrests made by the Sheriff’s Scrap Unit, formed in December to investigate the growing number of scrap metal thefts in the county.

LINKS:

Thieves Caught After Stealing 500 lbs. Of Scrap