Two men arrested in theft of ballfield bleachers

By Casey Ramsdell, Globe Correspondent

Two men are facing theft charges today after they allegedly stole bleachers from an elementary school in Abington, presumably to sell them for scrap metal, police said.

A resident reported seeing the men, one of whom was his neighbor, dragging bleachers from the Woodsdale Elementary School into nearby woods and dismantling them. The men then took pieces of the bleachers into a yard and began chopping them up, said Abington Deputy Police Chief Chris Cutter.

When police arrived, they found Robert Maines, 25, of Abington, sawing the bleachers, according to Cutter. Maines ran and attempted to hide himself and the circular saw he was holding, but an officer chased and apprehended him, said Cutter.

John Clifford, 28, whose house is next to the ballfield and whose yard was where the sawing was taking place, was also arrested.

Cutter said police assumed the men were cutting up the bleachers in order to sell them as scrap.

The men were arraigned in Brockton District Court yesterday and were charged with larceny over $250 and malicious destruction of property over $250.

They were released on personal recognizance. Judge Michael Pomarole set pretrial hearings for Nov. 3.

Neither Karen Murray, Maines's attorney, nor Michael Jones, Clifford's attorney, immediately returned a message seeking comment.

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