2 Men Accused of Stealing $500,000 of Scrap Metal

Deputies say two Florida men stole almost $500,000 of metal from the Orange County school district and sold it for less than 10 percent of its value.

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 54-year-old Otis Jackson and 47-year-old Raymond Lindsey on Tuesday. They’re charged with multiple counts, including burglary, grand theft and stolen property.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the district’s storage yard was burglarized 61 times over 21 months. Deputies say Lindsay is implicated in 57 of the burglaries and Jackson in 24.

The newspaper reports nearly 109,000 pounds of metal worth $476,000 was stolen during 58 trips to a scrap yard. It was sold for $44,000. Officials say the metal was resold to a Tampa scrap yard for a profit.

Items stolen include 256 sets of metal ramps.