Grand battery theft uncovered

United States – A 42-year-old man from the US state of Missouri has pleaded guilty to grand theft after stealing more than US$ 50 000 worth of automotive batteries while employed at Tri-State Batteries.

With sentencing scheduled for January 10, Steven Edward Riley faces up to 15 years in prison for pawning or scrapping batteries on no less than 117 occasions. The crimes took place between June 2011 and last December, prosecutors told the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court. Instead of collecting the old batteries from Tri-State’s clients and returning them to the shop for recycling, Riley would scrap batteries worth US$ 3000-4000 at a time. The suspicions of the Anne Arundel County police were aroused when it noticed Riley’s name repeatedly appearing on a database of pawn shops and recycling centres.