Oakland Park Worker Accused Of Stealing Water Meters
OAKLAND PARK (CBS4) - The Broward Sheriff's Office believes they have solved a string of burglaries at a storage facility in Oakland Park in which water meters and brass fittings were stolen.
On Monday they arrested 48-year old Humberto Blanco who now faces a number charges including burglary, grand theft and dealing in stolen property.
Investigators said the storage facility at the City of Oakland Park's former Water Treatment Plant, at 5100 NE 12th Terrace, had been burglarized three times in the past six months. The latest incident took place in the early morning hours of May 15. When employees arrived at work on Monday, May 16, they discovered someone had once again accessed the main building, cut the padlock to a storage room and stolen over $7,000 worth of water meters and brass fittings.
During questioning, Blanco reportedly admitted to detectives he committed the burglaries because he needed money to pay his bills. The sheriff's office said Blanco first broke into the facility on Nov. 24 and then on March 14. Totaling the three burglaries, more than $17,000 in metal was stolen from the city and sold at scrap metal yards.
Blanco had been employed by the City of Oakland Park since July 2010 as a Utility Tech Operations & Maintenance worker.
