Hammond bridge thief gets 2 years

A Whiting man convicted of stealing a decommissioned Hammond railroad bridge was sentenced Thursday to 24 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $54,000 in restitution to the City of Hammond, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kenneth Morrison, now 69, of Whiting, was found guilty of interstate transportation of stolen property in December. Morrison dismantled Hammond’s Monon Bridge and sold the metal in Burnham, Illinois, for $18,000 in late 2014 and early 2015.

Morrison’s sentence was enhanced due to the bridge’s eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, according to the release. Federal prosecutors said that Morrison knew the city owned the bridge, because he had his requests to dismantle the bridge rejected by the Board of Public Works, but decided to take it anyway.

The defense argued that there was no clear owner of the bridge and it was abandoned property, though the bridge was built in 1910, according to court documents, and was decommissioned and deeded to Hammond in 1987.

Defense attorney Sheldon Nagelberg said that Hammond did not record the deed for the bridge, which spanned the Grand Calumet River, for more than 30 years. He also said the structure posed a hazard to the public, the city did not have any signs indicating it was private property, the city wasn’t sure it owned the bridge for years and it was an environmental risk.

Morrison first approached the city in November 1991 to ask to purchase the bridge, dismantle it and scrap the metal, according to court documents. Hammond denied to request, only to be asked again by Morrison in 2014.

In 2014, Morrison told the city the bridge was on railroad company land and he was negotiating with the company to purchase and remove the bridge, according to court documents.

Between December 2014 and January 2015, he allegedly began dismantling the drawbridge, according to the documents. He was later cited by the city, Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Indiana Department of Natural Resources for leaving potentially contaminated material in the water and not having the proper permits. The case was prosecuted by attorney Richard J. Powers, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant United States Attorney Toi Denise Houston, according to the release.