Man Caught Stealing Copper, Microwave from Trenton Hotel

Police arrested a man at the Trenton Motor Inn Dec. 23 at about 10:54 a.m. suspected of pilfering copper pipes, a microwave oven and a bundle of television cable, the report said.

The service space is a hallway that runs behind the rooms. A hotel employee told police that the entry door to the space is locked and normally inaccessible to hotel guests.

When the man walked away, an employee checked the space and found that the television cable that services the rooms had been cut and removed. Also, a copper water supply pipe had been broken off and water was flooding the space and several of the rooms, the report said. 

Scrap copper is worth about $3 per pound. 

The water line in the coin laundry was also broken and flooding. When confronted, the suspect told the employee that he was trying to fix the pipe before it broke.

The suspect told police he was getting stuff out of the dumpster behind the hotel, and pointed to three bags of garbage outside one of the rooms. The bags contained the previously stated items.

Police found a pair of wire cutters on the suspect and detained him.  

After an inspection of the rooms, the employee discovered five rooms had water damage from the broken pipes. When questioned again, the suspect asked if he could just pay for the damages to the property.

andrew.thurlow@patch.com