NORCROSS, Ga.,None — Police have arrested two Gwinnett County men they say made a living by stealing and selling metal.
Investigators told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh throughout 2011 the men were stealing metal from churches and neighborhoods and selling it off.
They said it was a very lucrative crime until a couple of the recyclers caught on.
Chris Foster of Tristar recycling said his workers were immediately suspicious when two men brought a hunk of metal to their Norcross recycling center, attempting to scrap it.
Police said the metal came from the entrance to the Edinburgh subdivision in Suwanee. It was one of six toppers stolen from Endiburgh in 2011.
"There's just no other place you're going to get it from," Foster said.
Police believe Tommy Ash, 37, and Roger Flowers, 40, were tearing down the toppers, selling them off and making a lot of money in the process.
"This year alone from one metal recycler, Tommy Ash made over $26,000," Cpl. Jake Smith of the Gwinnett County Police Department.
Investigators said Flowers made about $15,000 from the same recycler.
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Smith said investigators have also tied Flowers to the theft of copper gutters from Cannon United Methodist Church in Snellville.
"They do this very often and it's these gutters combined with everything else they have been stealing, adds up to a lot," Smith said.
The recyclers showed Kavanaugh another set of copper gutters sold by the same two men. Investigators still don't where they were stolen from.
Police said Ash and Flowers have been arrested for similar crimes in the past. Now, they're back in jail charged with felony theft by taking.
Gwinnett County police credit their new metal theft unit with the arrest, which has had a nearly 100 percent case clearance rate.
Investigators believe these two arrests may close several more.
WSBTV
