Pair caught on camera stealing wallets and video equipment.
Two demolition workers at the scene of last week’s disastrous State Street fire in Perth Amboy, New Jersey were arrested for stealing wallets and video cameras from the destroyed apartment building — after a victim of the fire videotaped them in the middle of the theft, police said today.
Police said one of the workers was urging the other to “get the money, get the money,” when they were caught on Monday afternoon.
Leroy Williams, a 69-year-old from the Landing section of Roxbury, and Robert Bace, 63, of the Port Murray section of Mansfield, were both arrested on charges of theft and conspiracy to commit theft, said police. Police said a fire victim saw Williams emerging from a first-floor window with numerous wallets while Bace urged him onward. The victim, said police, used his cell phone to photograph the pair and even record what they were doing. Williams also allegedly removed a black case from the destroyed building and placed it in a pick-up truck parked across the street. The case contained a Sony Handi-Cam video camera, officers later discovered.
The 12-apartment building at 485 State Street is being torn down after a five-alarm fire last Thursday that left 43 people homeless.
City Fire Chief Dave Volk said the two were not city employees. The city has not hired a demolition firm, although one may have been hired by the property owner or insurer, he said.
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