A 23-year-old Middletown resident has been charged with allegedly stealing $140,483 worth of specialized equipment near Mount Grenta in January, including a mobile mapping computer and a metal detector.
On Jan. 2, South Londonderry Municipal Police were dispatched to the area of 500 Mount Gretna Road for a report of a robbery. A Tetra Tech employee told police that specialized equipment was stolen from a temporary storage trailer located in the parking lot of State Game Lands 145 west of Mount Gretna.
The storage trailer did not have a combination lock, which employees told police had been securing the container since Thanksgiving last year.
“The complainant reported that several items were stolen, valued at approximately $150,000,” police said in court documents. “Among these items was a Kaarta SLAM Stencil 2 and a White MX7 metal detector.”
Tetra Technology is a consulting and engineering services company based in Pasadena, California that provides services including water, environmental and resource management. A Kaarta SLAM 2 Stencil is a mobile mapping device.
On January 3, police responded to a call at the Capitol City Pawn Shop regarding the sale of White’s Kaarta SLAM Stencil 2 and an MX7 Metal Detector. The serial numbers found matched the devices that were stolen.
An employee identified Ivan Lee Rodgers as the person who attempted to sell the devices, providing video and receipts of the transaction along with a photo of Rodger’s Pennsylvania identification card. The employee said Rodgers indicated he located the items while cleaning out a storage room and attempted to sell them for $4,000.
On Jan. 13, police attempted to contact Rodgers and asked him to come in for an interview related to the items stolen from Tetra Tech.
“Ivan Lee Rodgers told (police) he did not steal any items from Mount Gretna,” court documents state, adding that Rodgers said he found the items he pawned in a dumpster.
Police obtained a search warrant on Jan. 12 for Rodger’s phone records between Nov. 23, 2023, and Jan. 3, 2024. Those records allegedly showed that Rodgers was receiving cellphone service six times at the crime scene. Rodger’s phone records also showed that he spent a total of 40 minutes on the mornings of Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 at the crime scene before returning directly to his Middletown residence, according to court documents.
A review of call records showed that Rodgers made two calls on Dec. 31 to Goody’s Unlimited of Carlisle, a buy-and-sell store.
Rodgers was charged with theft by unlawful taking. A preliminary hearing is scheduled before Lebanon County Magisterial District Judge David Warner Jr. at 8 a.m. July 18.
Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on the X at @DAMattToth.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Man accused of stealing $140,000 worth of equipment near Mt. Gretna, PA
