Man Charged with Felonies for Workplace Copper Thefts

A 47-year old North Providence man was charged with three counts of felony breaking and entering and felony larceny after he was allegedly caught on camera stealing copper and other metals worth thousands from his job, police said.

According to a police report, Thomas M. Egan, of 55 Metcalf Ave., North Providence was recorded by security cameras at Armando Ricci & Sons on Hartford Avenue stealing copper and lead on three occasions.

On Dec. 28, Johnson Det. James H. Brady met with the business owner and viewed some of the video surveillance which clearly showed Egan pry open a door to a small building using a metal bar he had taken out of the trunk of his gold Chevy Malibu. That incident was on Dec. 20 and he allegedly took about $800 worth of copper and lead from the building.

A second tape dated Dec. 26 showed two separate break-ins in a short time span. The first was at around 2:30 p.m. and he pried open a storage container and once again, stole copper and lead from it. About 15 minutes later, he broke into the same building he had broken into on Dec. 20, taking more metals.

After loading the copper and lead into his car, he drove off.

Police obtained an arrest warrant and staked out the business on the day Egan was scheduled to arrive to pick up his paycheck.

Once they say Egan drive up in his gold Malibu, they intercepted him and took him into custody.

Egan was arraigned on three felony counts of breaking and entering, felony larceny and misdemeanor larceny. He is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston as a probation violator on a previous drug charge out of Central Falls. On the new charges, he is being held on $5,000 with surety for the breaking and entering charges and $1,000 with surety on the larceny charge.

He is scheduled to appear in court for a prearraignment conference on March 1.