Scrap metal stolen from Mukilteo firm

Published 9:46 pm Monday, July 18, 2011

MUKILTEO — Somebody used a big blue truck to steal a couple thousand dollars worth of scrap metal from a Mukilteo business.

The theft happened around 1 a.m. Monday at Terrene Engineering at 4212 Russell Road, Mukilteo Police Chief Rex Caldwell said.

Surveillance video shows the thieves pulled up to the business in a semi-sized truck outfitted with trash-bin hauling equipment, he said.

There was about $2,000 worth of galvanized steel scraps in a large recycling bin outside the business. The scrap weighed about 20,000 pounds, the chief said.

The thieves chained the bin to the truck to pull it off its base. In their efforts to get the bin onto the truck bed, the thieves caused heavy damage to three nearby vans, Caldwell said.

They eventually got the scrap bin onto the truck’s bed. In doing so, they caused several thousand dollars in damage to the bin and its base, Caldwell said.

The recycling bin was carted away. It was found empty Monday afternoon in a parking lot in south Everett. Nearby was scrap metal from another company.

The scrap metal stolen from the Mukilteo business was distinctive 16-gauge galvanized steel, Caldwell said. Anyone with information on the theft is asked to call Mukilteo police at 425-263-8100.

Meanwhile, if someone owns a trash-bin hauler that is medium blue with a white circular logo on the door, and it showed up this week with inexplicable damage, the cops would love to speak with them, Caldwell said.

Scrap metal thefts aren’t as bad in Mukilteo as they were a few years ago, but they’re still fairly common, he said.

In January, thieves were caught in the act making off with a 3,121-pound propeller. The prop was a well-known landmark at a local marine supply business. The thieves were pulled over by a Mukilteo patrol officer.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.