After man found hiding in underground tunnel by old Ford plant, he’s charged with possessing burglary tools
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:53 am
https://www.twincities.com/2018/06/26/a ... ary-tools/
6/26/2018 After man found hiding in underground tunnel by old Ford plant, he’s charged with possessing burglary tools
After motion-detector alarms sounded from underground tunnels near St. Paul’s old Ford plant Monday, police found a 36-year-old man lying face down in a tunnel, partially buried in sand and hidden under cables and piping.
Police handcuffed Stephen Richard Carey, of Richfield, and he said words to the effect of, “I needed money bad and all the copper down in the tunnels was too good to pass up,” according to a criminal complaint filed against him. Carey is charged with possession of burglary or theft tools, a felony.
A worker at the Twin Cities Hydroelectric Facility by the Mississippi River in Highland Park called 911 at 6:34 a.m. Monday to report alarms were going off that connected to man-made underground tunnels in the rock surrounding the power plant.
Another worker had noticed about 6:20 a.m. that “multiple large concrete barriers and a heavy steel plate had been shifted off a tunnel access shaft,” the complaint said.
Before police arrived, a worker saw a man running from the tunnel shaft. It was unknown if anyone was still inside and officers searched multiple tunnels and caverns before finding Carey.
Police found two battery packs for a portable power tool that appeared to have recently been left there, along with a backpack with another portable tool battery, a grinder wheel tool and other tools.
There was “a pile of dozens of 3- to 4-foot lengths of copper cable tubing, each approximately 2- to 3-inches in diameter, … which appeared to be staged for quick removal from the tunnel,” the complaint said.
Carey was issued a notice to not trespass at the power plant/tunnels site last year, the complaint said.
After his arrest Monday, he told police he was “just ‘exploring’ the tunnels,'” according to the complaint.
In recorded jailhouse phone calls, Carey complained to people about a man who “did all the work” and left him “high and dry,” the complaint said.
An attorney for Carey was not listed in the court record.
6/26/2018 After man found hiding in underground tunnel by old Ford plant, he’s charged with possessing burglary tools
After motion-detector alarms sounded from underground tunnels near St. Paul’s old Ford plant Monday, police found a 36-year-old man lying face down in a tunnel, partially buried in sand and hidden under cables and piping.
Police handcuffed Stephen Richard Carey, of Richfield, and he said words to the effect of, “I needed money bad and all the copper down in the tunnels was too good to pass up,” according to a criminal complaint filed against him. Carey is charged with possession of burglary or theft tools, a felony.
A worker at the Twin Cities Hydroelectric Facility by the Mississippi River in Highland Park called 911 at 6:34 a.m. Monday to report alarms were going off that connected to man-made underground tunnels in the rock surrounding the power plant.
Another worker had noticed about 6:20 a.m. that “multiple large concrete barriers and a heavy steel plate had been shifted off a tunnel access shaft,” the complaint said.
Before police arrived, a worker saw a man running from the tunnel shaft. It was unknown if anyone was still inside and officers searched multiple tunnels and caverns before finding Carey.
Police found two battery packs for a portable power tool that appeared to have recently been left there, along with a backpack with another portable tool battery, a grinder wheel tool and other tools.
There was “a pile of dozens of 3- to 4-foot lengths of copper cable tubing, each approximately 2- to 3-inches in diameter, … which appeared to be staged for quick removal from the tunnel,” the complaint said.
Carey was issued a notice to not trespass at the power plant/tunnels site last year, the complaint said.
After his arrest Monday, he told police he was “just ‘exploring’ the tunnels,'” according to the complaint.
In recorded jailhouse phone calls, Carey complained to people about a man who “did all the work” and left him “high and dry,” the complaint said.
An attorney for Carey was not listed in the court record.