T employee suspended; copper theft alleged
An MBTA employee in his Tissued truck has been arrested on suspicion of trying to steal copper from his employer after fellow workers say they saw him rummaging for scrap metal in a locked portion of the Charlestown bus yard.
Michael Sheehan, 46, of Hingham, was arraigned Tuesday in the Charlestown Division of Boston Municipal Court on charges of attempted larceny and trespassing.
He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, according to court documents. His lawyer could not be reached for comment.
MBTA Transit Police responded to the bus yard near Alford Street for a report that someone was stealing copper wire, according to the police report.
When they got there, they spotted a man in an MBTA pickup truck, and assumed he’d been the caller. But the man, later identified as Sheehan, said he wasn’t — he said he’d just finished up his shift and was leaving. But, police wrote, he matched the description of the alleged thief.
Two more people then showed up in a T work van and said they were the ones who’d called police. They identified Sheehan as the person they’d seen “inside the locked wire storage area cage” where he’d been “going through the dumpster,” according to police.
The police asked Sheehan what had happened, and “Sheehan stated he was going through the dumpster and would not elaborate further,” police wrote.
The two other T workers told police they’d seen Sheehan going through the dumpster, and then they had noted several lengths of copper pipe slid under the fence to outside the area. Police found about 30 five-foot lengths of 500mm insulated copper pipe.
The transit police also wrote that while they were booking Sheehan, they discovered “that Sheehan’s wallet contained eight credit/debit cards belonging to unknown individuals, not Sheehan, as well as two Driver’s Licenses for Donte Wilson and Tavien Goodson.” Police said they were trying to track down anyone who those items might be connected to.
Sheehan has been suspended, according to the MBTA.
“Following a tip from a T employee, T Police were able to prevent a copper wire theft yesterday at the Charlestown bus yard,” MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in a statement Tuesday. “We are grateful to the T employee who came forward and reported this crime. We also would like to thank the Transit Police for their swift response. Their actions helped to prevent a theft and protect our property.”
Sheehan, a track person for the T, made more than $101,000 last year, according to state payroll records.
The T said the bus yard is surrounded by fencing, gates, and security cameras to try to prevent theft.
As the price of metals has increased in recent decades, thefts of copper wire to sell as scrap have become more common. Prices vary by the gauge and insulation of the wire, but various websites locally and nationally put the cost up to $3 a pound for the type that Sheehan was allegedly trying to take. Police documents don’t put a price on the amount he allegedly tried to swipe, other than to characterize it as over $1,200, which is a different charge than theft of an amount below that mark.
Earlier this year, a former assistant chief engineer who managed facilities maintenance for Commuter Rail contractor Keolis was charged in connection to a multi-million-dollar fraud operation that included theft of copper wire and selling it for more than $4.5 million.
John Pigsley, that assistant chief engineer, led the yearslong scheme in concert with electrical subcontractor John Rafferty. The men allegedly also used fake invoices for electrical services to steal more than $4 million from the commuter rail operator.