Thief Netted $35,000 Selling Stolen Metal, Police Say

A Hellertown man made more than $35,000 in less than 10 months by selling scrap metal he—with some help—had stolen from railroad cars parked in South Bethlehem and decommissioned electrical transmission towers on South Mountain, Bethlehem police said.

On Friday, Corey C. Merwarth, 34, of 13 E. Depot St., was arrested and charged with multiple felony theft and conspiracy counts and sent to prison in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Court records say Merwarth is a "known heroin addict with an extensive criminal history."

The investigation that led to Merwarth’s arrest began in September when Bethlehem police received a report from Lehigh Valley Rail Management that more than 700 copper valves had been stolen from railroad grain cars—also known as hoppers, police said.

Each of the valves also had red brass caps, which had also been stolen. In all, 88 hopper cars—all parked at Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII inside the former Bethlehem Steel complex—had been vandalized, police said.

The theft was discovered before the cars were to be returned to the Midwest for the fall grain harvest, according to the arrest affidavit. Proctor & Gamble, the owner of the hoppers, suffered a $30,000 loss as a result of the thefts, police said.

Lehigh Valley Rail Management also reported that engine parts—specifically aluminum radiators—had also been stolen from Norfolk Southern trains being stored in the industrial park, according to the complaint. Norfolk Southern’s loss was a little more than $4,000.

The police investigation ultimately led to the H. Blinderman & Son scrap metal business in Hellertown, where transaction records showed that Merwarth had sold items “consistent with the metal items stolen” from the railroad cars at LVIP VII, according to court records.

Police said they determined that Merwarth had visited Blinderman’s 68 times between June 29 and Oct. 17 and had been paid a total of $20,240.

In March, police received information that Merwarth and another man were involved in a series of alleged copper thefts from decommissioned PPL transmission towers, the affidavit says.

PPL reported to Lower Saucon Township police that 46 of these towers had been vandalized during one week in March, according to the complaint.

That investigation ultimately led police to Einfalt Recycling & Storage in Stockertown, whose scrap yard weigh master said Merwarth was a regular customer, the affidavit says.

Transaction logs at the yard showed that Merwarth had brought in 5,270 pounds of braided copper cable—“consistent with the copper stolen from the PPL towers”—between Feb. 11 and March 6, police said.

In 12 separate visits to Einfalt’s, Merwarth was paid more than $15,700, police said.

“Corey Merwarth is a known heroin addict with an extensive criminal history, which features numerous arrests for drug offenses, theft-related offenses, assault and firearms violations,” the affidavit says.

Merwarth was charged with three counts each of theft, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy and arraigned before District Judge Patricia Romig-Passaro.