SOUDERTON, Pa. — Two men arrested for stealing tie plates from the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad told police they didn’t know they were breaking the law. Each man faces 115 counts of theft and receiving stolen property, after they admitted to police they took the tie plates from the tracks. A citizen observed the men loading the tie plates into a car, according to a report in the Doylestown Intelligencer. Police arrived after the men left the area.
When police went to the neighborhood later in the day to investigate a domestic disturbance, one of the men told police they had been collecting scrap from the railroad and had sold it. They told police they didn’t have permission from the railroad to collect the scrap, and did not believe it was illegal. They had received $133.40 for the 920 pounds of tie plates. Pennsylvania Northeastern officials said the tie plates were worth $1,725.
