DULUTH - Two Duluth residents are in the St. Louis County Jail, accused of stealing industrial pipe.
Peter Alan Diehl, 25, and Erica Lynn McNichols-Diehl, 19, are charged with felony theft, Duluth police public information officer Brad Wick said in a news release.
Duluth police responded to a report of a possible theft in progress at 3:53 p.m. Sunday in the 300 block of Garfield Avenue, the release said. Two people were seen loading pipe from a yard into a truck and then leaving. Officers stopped the vehicle a short distance away. They found several pieces of heavy, thick-walled alloy steel pipe in the bed of the truck and learned it had been stolen.
Police later went to an address in the 5300 block of London Road where Diehl and McNichols-Diehl live and found additional pieces of stolen pipe, the release said. The recovered pipe is valued in excess of $50,000.
Police are reminding area businesses and individuals that the theft of scrap metal and wire is a large problem in the region. Police are asking that those who sell, use or deal in these types of materials store them in secured areas, such as within locked fences with video surveillance.
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If materials are found missing, the owners should report the theft by calling 911.
The Duluth News Tribune and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
