MIFFLIN TWP. — A brazen thief stole more than $30,000 worth of equipment from a construction project using the contractor’s own machinery, police say.

Using a backhoe parked in the median on Interstate 80, four miles east of the Mifflinville interchange, the thief lifted two 1,000-pound Miller Pro diesel welders, estimated at $12,000 and $13,000, onto a truck. The welders belonged to John Fithian Contracting of Youngstown, Ohio.

The thief then cut the lock on a construction trailer belonging to Glenn Hawbaker Inc., Montoursville, and stole thousand of dollars in equipment, including drills, saws, and engineering equipment.

The thefts happened sometime between Friday, Oct. 19 at 2:30 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 22 at 7 a.m., according to police.
Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to contact the Bloomsburg State Police at 570-387-4261.