$10,000 in stolen scrap metals end up in Wayne County

Alpco Recycling owner, Al Plumb, considers himself a pretty shrewd judge of character after 40 years in the scrap business. On Tuesday, Al admitted “They got me.” It all began when regular customers came in with a load of baled scrap metals. Usually pre-baled 2100 pound metals would set off bells and whistles that something was amiss. The metals had already been processed through a scrap metal facility.
Plumb explained that the customers, “Not small time guys” in metal recycling, said they had bought out a scrap yard in the souther tier, where the owner had died and the family was disposing of his assets. The men explained that they had to clear out the yard and were working around the clock to expedite the truck loads of baled scrap metals.
Alpco, one of the few recycling plants open on Saturdays, was willing to accept the loads of escalating valued metals and Plumb himself offered to show up at the plant at all hours over the upcoming days to accommodate the customers.
In all, Alpco bought about $10,000 worth of the scrap metal bundles over a several day period. It wasn’t until a truck driver for the Ed Arnold Scrap facility in Genesee County noticed the bundles piling up at Alpco that Al became aware the metal bundles were “hot”. Alpco sells scrap metal to the Arnold facility for intermediate processing before it is shipped off to final recycling.
Police soon learned that a gang of men, the customers Al Plumb had come to know over the past year, were involved in a high stakes metal theft involving tons of material.
Genesee County Sheriffs' Deputies said the gang, using a truck outfitted with a boom lift, were heisting the scrap metal bundles off CSX rail cars in Batavia during the night time hours, transporting them to Alpco, located on Route 31F in Macedon, where they were paid cash for the transactions.
On Monday night, Sheriff’s deputies were waiting for the gang as they loaded yet another take onto a truck. Meanwhile, Macedon Police, Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputies and State Police were waiting at Alpco just in case the men slipped by the Genesee County end of the caper.
Genesee County Sheriffs' Deputies arrested five Monroe County men for allegedly stealing several scrap bundles. Christopher H. Monfort, age 37, from 113 Pine Street in  East Rochester, Richard  E. Riedman, age 35, of 542 Klem Road Webster, Anthony Toscano, age 44, of 918 S. Goodman Street in Rochester, Anthony Russell, age 35, of 75 Snug Harbor Court in Rochester and Timothy Stone, age 29,  of 3735 Chili Avenue in Rochester, are charged with Grand Larceny 3rd Degree.
Monfort and Toscano are being held in jail without bail. Riedman is in jail on $15,000 bail and Russell and Stone are in jail on $10,000 bail.
The scrap metal bundles are being transferred back to their owner. Plumb admits he was fooled by the gang, and although the court system will probably order restitution if they are found guilty, Alpco will probably never recover the money paid out for the scrap. “They got me, they beat me,” said Plumb. He bought into the gang’s story about a closing scrap yard and paid the price. Plumb stated that the most embarrassing part of the whole deal is that his peers in the scrap business know he fell for the ruse.