Men charged with selling stolen scrap metal from Youngstown company

Staff report

GIRARD

Men from Cortland and Youngstown were arraigned Wednesday in Girard Municipal Court on charges that they sold metal to a Liberty scrap yard that had been stolen from a Youngstown company.

Gerald W. Kay II, 40, of Ridge Road, Cortland, pleaded not guilty to felony identity fraud and misdemeanor receiving stolen property. Antonio Hawthorne, 45, of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor receiving stolen property.

Liberty and Youngstown police jointly investigated after the owner of Welding Technique of Leah Avenue in Youngstown reported that a steel plate taken from the company had been scrapped at Cleveland Auto Wrecking, Youngstown-Hubbard Road, on Tuesday.

While police were at the scrap yard Tuesday, they obtained copies of the photo identification used by the two men who scrapped it — Kay and Hawthorne.

They also noticed that the two men were back at the scrap yard and were driving up to the office to receive payment for another load of scrap.

Officers took Kay and Hawthorne into custody. Kay misidentified himself while being questioned, Liberty police said.