Crime & Safety

Man Jailed on Suspicion of Stealing Scrap Metal

He allegedly took a large metal grate from the abandoned Roripaugh Ranch development.

A Temecula man was jailed today on suspicion of grand theft for allegedly stealing a high-priced metal grate from an abandoned housing development.   

Jamie McCarty, 31, was arrested Thursday after a Riverside County sheriff's deputy located the suspect's flatbed truck loaded with a metal roadway grate near Murrieta Hot Springs and Roripaugh Valley roads, according to Sgt. Will Edwards.   

The deputy was patrolling the vacant Roripaugh Ranch development and asked the suspect whether the large metal piece belonged to him, according to the sergeant.

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McCarty initially claimed he had permission to remove the metal to sell as scrap, but further investigation revealed that was not the case, according to Edwards.   

The grate belonged to Roripaugh Valley Restoration, which did not grant McCarty permission to take it, Edwards said.   

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Although the grate is valued at $2,800, the scrap value is about $350, according to Edwards.   

McCarty was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, with bail set at $5,000.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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