Police: Men concealed stolen propane tanks in recycling bin

Posted on Wed, May 30, 2012 : 1:30 p.m.

Police: Men concealed stolen propane tanks in recycling bin

By Kyle Feldscher

Two Ann Arbor men won’t be able to throw the blowout barbecue they were apparently planning when they were caught stealing four propane tanks Tuesday.

The suspects hid the stolen propane tanks in city of Ann Arbor recycling bins like those pictured above.

AnnArbor.com file photo

Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said an Ann Arbor police parking enforcement officer saw a 35-year-old man and a 51-year-old man loading the tanks into a blue city of Ann Arbor recycling bin. The officer called investigators at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday to the 400 block of East Madison Street to report the incident, Bush said.

The men had taken the propane tanks from the yard of a home on the block and put them into one of the blue bins, Bush said. Officers responding to the call found them rolling the bin down the sidewalk with the propane tanks inside.

The tanks belonged to a 30-year-old Ann Arbor man and a 19-year-old Ann Arbor man.

The suspects were arrested and lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail, Bush said

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Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

OLDTIMER3

Thu, May 31, 2012 : 12:13 p.m.

I don't think the recycle bins are big enough to hold 4 propane tanks unless they are the little green ones. @grimmk, my pit came with a propane stater in it.

RJA

Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:56 p.m.

It must just be the HEAT!

Suzanne

Wed, May 30, 2012 : 8:10 p.m.

Geez this tank is heavy...no problem, I will just take this cart too! Entitlement... scary!

justcurious

Wed, May 30, 2012 : 6:34 p.m.

Kyle, you are getting really off the cuff with your writing lately..."blow out barbecue"...lol I hope they are out of jail. A local alleged drunk driver who killed someone with his suv was out the next day.

Kyle Feldscher

Wed, May 30, 2012 : 6:44 p.m.

justcurious- Hope you enjoyed it! I'm not trying to make light of the circumstances at all, obviously crimes are to be taken seriously. But, sometimes these things just write themselves.

Hmm

Wed, May 30, 2012 : 6:02 p.m.

Money to throw a BBQ but you can't afford propane tanks? Come on now! But then again, isn't propane something needed to manufacture meth?

jooceefroot

Thu, May 31, 2012 : 3:22 p.m.

EBT will buy food, but not the propane to cook it.

grimmk

Thu, May 31, 2012 : 3:28 a.m.

You don't use propane to start a BBQ! You use wood! Come on, now.

DNB

Wed, May 30, 2012 : 6:15 p.m.

From what I've read, they empty the tanks of propane, and use them to transport the toxic ingredients, such as ammonia.