EDGEWOOD, MD—Maryland State Police have arrested three men connected with the theft of more than $400,000 in scrap metal over several months in Montgomery County.
The suspects, Anthony Coles, 51, of Edgewood, Larry Beasley, 69, Baltimore, and Raymond Mason Jr., 31, of Baltimore, are charged with theft over $100,000, theft scheme over $100,000, conspiracy to commit a theft scheme, and theft.
Coles and Beasley were arrested on November 5 and transported to the Montgomery County Detention Center.
Beasley was released on his own recognizance and Coles was released after posting $15,000 bond. Mason was arrested on Friday and was taken to the Montgomery County Detention Center pending a hearing with a court commissioner.
According to a preliminary investigation, the scrap metal theft occurred between March and May 2019. The victim, Atlantic Recycling Group, reported in June that they suspected that those associated with the company hired to transport the scrap metal from Rockville, Maryland to the Port of Baltimore, Bmore Transport, was stealing much of the metal prior to delivery.
The alleged theft was uncovered when Atlantic Recycling Group learned that the cargo containers were arriving at foreign destinations vastly underweight when compared with the original weighted totals. The estimated value of the missing scrap metal is $425,000.
The Maryland Transportation Authority Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations and the Montgomery County Police Department assisted with this investigation.
The case remains under investigation.
