Crime & Safety

Police: Man Swiped Rebar, Hid it Behind Courthouse

Douglas Edward Mills, 53, faces multiple charges.

Police say a Phoenixville man stole a steel bar from a construction site in the borough last month, only to later show them where he’d hidden it. 

Douglas Edward Mills, 53, was charged with two counts of theft by unlawful taking and two counts of receiving stolen property stemming from the late October incident. Mills, in an unrelated incident, was charged the following day after police say he attempted to steal tools from a truck.

According to court documents, on October 31, Phoenixville Police received report of a 20 foot steel railing missing from a Bridge Street construction site. The railing had an estimated value of $500.

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While searching the scene, police found Mills’ checkbook. After a brief investigation, police determined that Mills had trespassed on the site and taken the railing.

Mills later took police to the rail, which he’d hidden in the grass behind the district courthouse.

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He faces preliminary hearing on November 29.


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