Published: May 23, 2008 10:28 pm      

NIAGARA FALLS: Cops catch copper thieves

Trio nabbed in theft of metals from former Nabisco plant

A registered sex offender, a Lockport man and Falls senior citizen are all behind bars after cops disrupted their copper stripping activities at the former Nabisco plant in the 900 block of Rainbow Boulevard.

John W. Lumpkin, 66, 3037 Welch Ave., Keith R. Swartzlander, 21, 2515 Falls St., and Raymond M. Burley, 21, 7765 Akron Road, Lockport, were all charged in connection with what cops called coordinated thefts of copper and other metals from the shuttered plant.

Their activities were uncovered when Falls police officer Patrick Hennegan caught Swartzlander as he was coming out of the plant at 5:11 p.m. Thursday with a bag full of copper pipe. Caught red-handed, Swartzlander told Hennegan, “I got in from the roof with John Lumpkin. If you want, I’ll just show you how I got in and show you where I cut the pipes and save everybody a lot of time. I’m caught — what’s the difference?”

Swartzlander showed police and representatives of Niagara Falls Redevelopment, the property’s owner, what was described as “damaged circuit breaker boxes and damaged sections of copper piping.” Police pegged the damage at about $1,500, while NFR Executive Vice President Roger Trevino said about $5,000 in damage was done inside the building.

The copper in the bag Swartzlander was carrying had an estimated value of $1,000.

Swartzlander has a criminal record that includes six prior arrests on nine charges, including five felonies. A former Lockport resident, he was charged with sexually abusing a minor in 2004, eventually pleading guilty to a reduced charge of attempted second-degree sexual abuse.

He was sentenced to 10 years probation, but has been charged with violating the terms of his probation on multiple occasions, as well as violating the reporting requirements for a registered sex offender. Swartzlander was charged with two counts of third-degree burglary, two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and second- and fourth-degree criminal mischief.

Swartzlander is jailed in lieu of bail of $5,000 cash or $10,000 property and is due back in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

After his arrest, Swartzlander told police that Lumpkin had just left the crime scene. Acting on that information, police found Lumpkin in a fenced and secure area of a junkyard in the 4800 block of Lockport Road.

Police said Lumpkin had burglar’s tools and a quantity of aluminum, taken from the junkyard, in his pickup truck when they stopped him. He is charged with third-degree criminal trespass, possession of burglar tools and petit larceny.

Lumpkin is also jailed in lieu of bail of $2,500 cash or $5,000 property and is due back in court June 16 for a pretrial hearing.

The last member of the group, Burley, was apprehended just after noon Friday, after he apparently went looking for Swartzlander. Burley climbed onto the roof of the plant when he was surprised by two NFR employees who were repairing a door.

He ran to nearby train tracks where he was caught by Hennegan, who was providing off-duty security at the site.

Burley told detectives he had “been buying copper from Keith Swartzlander for the last few days.”

“I buy a duffel bag full of copper for $25,” Burley said, “and bring it to Angie’s scrapyard under my name.”

He said he was supposed to meet Swartzlander on Friday morning and when he didn’t show up, Burley said he went looking for him at the Nabisco plant.

“I heard noise on the building, so I thought (Swartzlander) was up there,” Burley said. “So I went up (on the roof) and saw those workers and they arrested me.”

Burley faces charges of attempted third-degree burglary and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance for six hydrocodone tablets he had. He is jailed in lieu of bail of $5,000 cash or $10,000 property and is due back in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.