Three Charged in Metal Stealing Scheme

Two men and a woman have been charged with stealing materials from a Bethlehem Township fence maker and selling the goods to a scrap metal company in Hellertown, according to court records.

According to arrest warrants, Justin Theodore Slack, 22, of 1451 Iron St., Bethlehem, and Matthew Scartoli, 23, of 104 S. Third St., Easton, allegedly made several trips to the Arbor Fence Co., 2125 Williams Ave., where they would steal the materials.

Then, Stephanie Roth, 19, of 3061 Westminster Road, Bethlehem, would allegedly drive the two men and the stolen material in her pickup truck , a scrap metal yard at 1320 Whitaker St. in Hellertown.

On Thursday, a representative of the scrap metal yard called Hellertown police to report a suspicion that someone was selling stolen materials to them. Two days earlier, the owner of Arbor Fence reported that materials had been stolen from his yard.

The court papers allege that Slack, Scartoli and Roth made five separate trips to H. Blinderman between November 1 and Thursday and received a little more than $300 for more than 500 pounds of materials, including aluminum extrusions, mixed aluminum and black aluminum fencing.

The owner of Arbor Fence said the materials stolen are worth about $3,100.

Scartoli and Slack were each charged with three counts of theft. Roth was charged with criminal conspiracy.

Scartoli and Roth were both released on unsecured bail. Slack was committed to Northampton County Prison following arraignments at the office of District Judge Joseph Barner.