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Middlesex County / State Crime and Justice

Two DCR Employees Indicted In Connection With Theft Of Historic, Cast-Iron Coping From Longfellow Bridge Stored In State Facility

WOBURN – October 21, 2008 - Two Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) employees have been indicted by a Middlesex Superior Court Grand Jury in connection with the theft of more than 2000 feet of cast-iron “coping” that had been removed from the Longfellow Bridge and stored in a DCR facility in Stoneham, Middlesex District Attorney Leone informed the public today. The defendants are alleged to have sold the metal, estimated to cost more than $500,000 to replace, to a scrap yard for approximately $12,000.

             Richard Stewart, 42, of Saugus, and Joseph Falzone, 43, of Nashua, New Hampshire, were indicted on 4 counts of receiving stolen property over $250 and 4 counts of conspiracy to receive stolen property.  Stewart was also charged with one count of destruction of a historical monument.

            Stewart is the DCR Middlesex Fells District Manager and Falzone is a DCR employee. Both were suspended without pay by DCR in the time immediately following their arrest.

            An arraignment date has not yet been set.  

             “We have indicted the defendants for using their access as public employees to steal thousands of dollars worth of historic material for their own personal gain,” District Attorney Leone said. “We have also indicted Mr. Stewart for a crime of destroying a historic monument which, if he is convicted, would require him to reimburse the Commonwealth for the damage incurred.” 

             According to authorities, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office were contacted on September 4 for reports of larceny of DCR property at its Stoneham Labor Yard.

            In September 2007, several large cast iron pieces of the historic Longfellow Bridge, which connects Cambridge to Boston, were removed as part of a long term rebuilding of the bridge.  The removed pieces, measuring in total length approximately 3467 linear feet, called decorative “coping,” were built specifically for that bridge.  Each individual section is approximately 7’ long by 2’ wide and weighs 350 pounds.  They were to be refurbished and put back up when the bridge repair reaches completion in 2012. The coping, removed over a week long period in September 2007, was transferred to the DCR yard in Stoneham for safekeeping until its restoration.  The pieces were stacked approximately 15 high along a fence within the Stoneham yard.

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            In early September 2008, a DCR employee noticed that a large portion of the stacked coping was missing.  DCR conducted a check which revealed that approximately 2/3 of the removed coping, or 2347 linear feet, was missing.  DCR estimates this to be approximately 357 individual sections weighing approximately 100,000 pounds. According to these DCR officials, the estimated cost to reconstruct or replace the coping would be somewhere between $500,000 and $700,000. 

             State Police from the Middlesex District Attorney’s PACT Unit conducted an investigation into the circumstances of the theft. That investigation included interviews with DCR employees, analysis of video surveillance, analysis by the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services, and other investigative techniques.

             Based on that investigation, it was determined that a dump truck belonging to DCR, normally used at the Cambridge location, had been observed at the Stoneham yard on multiple occasions. That truck was being utilized by both Stewart and/or Falzone.

             Analysis of tire tracks at the DCR Stoneham location by State Police Crime Scene Services revealed impressions consistent with a DCR bobcat vehicle immediately adjacent to the area from which the coping was removed. Falzone and Stewart have access to the garage where the DCR bobcat is kept.

 Metal fragments were removed from the bed of the DCR truck and forks of the bobcat, all appeared consistent with the metal fragments on the ground in proximity of the remaining pile of decorative coping.

            It is alleged that Stewart and Falzone, on numerous weekend dates in July and August, using their access to the DCR Stoneham facility while also utilizing a DCR truck and bobcat, removed the decorative coping and brought the materials to a scrap metal yard in Everett. They then sold the materials to the scrap yard.

Video surveillance captures the DCR truck entering the scrap metal yard on numerous occasions with the coping in the truck and then leaving the yard minutes later empty.

             The original interview with Deputy Commissioner Jack Murray and his staff revealed that the estimated weight of the stolen material was approximately 100,000 pounds.  According to the receipts obtained from the scrap yard, the weight of the cast iron allegedly sold by Stewart and Falzone weighs 91,260 pounds. The pay out on the receipts totals $12,147.00. 

             Stewart and Falzone were arrested on September 11 and arraigned in Malden District Court. Both men were ordered held on $7500 cash bail.

 These charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s PACT Unit, established when District Attorney Leone took office, is dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of cases of public protection, anti-terrorism, corruption, and technology.

The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant District Attorney Elisha Willis. The case is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s PACT Unit and Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services.

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