A Pine Township resident and a Michigan City resident were arrested Monday on a charge of theft after the Porter County Sheriff’s Police said that they were seen stealing scrap metal from a cell tower in the area of U.S. Highway 20 and Birch Street in Pine Township.

Charged were Joshua P. Bendix, 25, of 1560 Birch St. in Pine Township, and William H. Hall, 24, of 408 Dewey St. in Michigan City, police said.

According to police, at 11:59 a.m. a man walking his dog observed two male subjects near the cell tower with a wooden box containing scrap metal which “he knew to be from the cell tower.” The man, suspicious, called 911, described the subjects’ vehicle as red hatchback, and advised that they were now traveling westbound on U.S. 20, police said.

Officers subsequently located a vehicle matching the man’s description at Sims Metal Management at 156 E. U.S. 20, where they made contact with the manager and the two suspects, identified as Bendix and Hall, police said.

Hill advised that they found the box near the cell tower and believed it to contain “random scrap,” police said.

Bendix advised that he himself never placed anything in the car, that Hill had taken the box, although he did say that Hill had also instructed to pick up a plastic bag full of bolts and screws, police said.

The Sims Metal manager recovered the scrap brought to the company and it was later identified by the cell tower’s construction manager as belonging to Global Tower Partners, police said.

The scrap in question included galvanized shoes and saddles, boom bolts, and climbing bolts, police said.

Hill was also charged with possession of a controlled substance after officers recovered an unspecified controlled substance in Hill’s vehicle, police said.

Bendix and Hill were transported to Porter County Jail.

Posted 4/17/2012