Copper Thieves Caught Fleeing Former Cancer Center, Police Say

Three men were arrested last week after breaking into the former Garden State Cancer Center on Belleville Avenue to steal copper, police said.

The trio was interrupted by the sound of police sirens, causing them to flee the building—including one burglar attempting to escape through an underground sewer tunnel—but all three were arrested a short time later, police said.

Lawrence Myers, 51, and Darren Logan, 46, both of Irvington, and Wayne Mitchell, 42, of Rahway, were each charged with receiving stolen property, burglary, theft, conspiracy to commit theft and possession of burglar’s tools.

Mitchell was also charged with obstruction for allegedly attempting to escape police.

Belleville police said the three men ran out of the empty medical building on Wednesday carrying bags full of copper after hearing sirens outside. 

Police said the men believed the police were after them for breaking into the building, but the officer was driving by on an unrelated call and would not have known the men were there if they hadn’t run out.

The officer saw the three men with a suitcase and a large duffel bag leave the building and immediately arrested two of them in the parking lot of a nearby golf course, police said.

Police said the third ran off through the golf course and crawled into a sewer grate attempting to escape through the underground tunnel.

The tunnel led to a dead end and with nowhere to go, he was also arrested, police said.

The men had cut copper piping as well as hammers, saws, wrenches and flashlights when officers found them, police said.

The men were each held on $50,000 bail and were transferred to the Essex County Correctional Facility.

The empty medical building is no stranger to intruders. In 2011, the Belleville Times reported a number of recreational trespassers had shared videos of themselves rummaging through the empty facility on Youtube.