This manhole cover on Centerville Street was one of eight stolen in Queens. Forum Newsgroup photo by Luis Gronda.
A Brooklyn man was arraigned last week in relation to a rash of
manhole cover thefts that occurred across the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Andrew Modica was arrested in Bensonhurst and was arraigned on four charges, including reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
According to police, Modica stole several Con Edison manhole covers while pretending to be an employee of that electric company. Police said that he stole a car and used it to transport the covers. Modica has a criminal history of more than 10 arrests going back to 1986, according to police.
Allan Drury, a spokesperson from Con Edison, said there were 40 manhole covers stolen in total. Twenty four of those incidents were in Brooklyn and the other 16 were split between Queens and the Bronx. Drury said that the covers cost $200 each to replace and weigh about 150 to 320 pounds. The replacements cost the agency $8,000 in total.
Out of the eight thefts in Queens, two were in the patrol area of the 106th Precinct. According to police, the two thefts in the 106 were both in Ozone Park — one on Centerville Street, and the other on 124th Street.
Captain Thomas Pascale, commanding officer of the 106th Precinct, spoke about the burglaries at the Precinct Community Council meeting last week.
He said that the exposed manholes are dangerous for people that are walking and driving.
“It’s a huge liability,” Pascale said. “It’s leaving electrical vaults open, you could drive your car into it, a child could walk into it.”
He also said that police believe the people who take the manhole covers sell them for about $15.
Pascale added that the NYPD and Con Edison released a joint press
release, to try and alert people that this has been going on recently.
Drury said that there have been six manhole thefts since the day the press release came out on May 3.
A spokesman from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office would not say whether or not Modica claimed responsibility for all or part of the manhole cover thefts, only saying that it is an ongoing investigation.
By Luis Gronda
