Pottsville man charged with stealing more than 100 Yuengling beer taps
Jul. 21—PORT CARBON — A Pottsville man was charged by Port Carbon police with stealing more than $2,000 in taps while he was employed as a cleaning subcontractor at the DG Yuengling and Son brewery at 133 Pottsville St. last month.
Port Carbon Police Chief Joseph Ferraro charged Bernard V. Babinetz, 63, of 38 Tuscarora St., with one felony count each of theft and receiving stolen property.
The charges were filed with Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon.
Ferraro said the investigation began June 9 when he was contacted by a brewery employee who is in charge of all point-of-sale products that come in and out of all Yuengling facilities.
The employee said that on June 9, he noticed several Yuengling tap handles on sale on eBay, an online commerce site. He said the items were not in circulation and were known to be only in the Mirawall storage facility.
Ferraro said the employee checked the area where the tap handles were stored and found them missing.
According to Ferraro, after learning this, the employee said the company decided to install video surveillance cameras in the area where the tap handles were stored and that he then narrowed down the time frame during which the handles could have been stolen.
The chief said it was determined the thefts happened on a Thursday of every week and that a cleaning crew subcontracted by Yuengling was at the facility on those days.
On June 16, Yuengling maintenance crews installed the cameras and, later that evening, the cameras captured images of a man entering the area, placing multiple taps into a bag and then leaving.
Ferraro said that on June 22, he and officers J.T. Ferraro and Nicholas Morgan were outside the facility. At 6 p.m., two vehicles pulled up with two women and a man, who then entered the building.
Yuengling maintenance workers were contacted to watch the video surveillance and subsequently informed police that a man entered the point-of-sale room and could be seen taking several taps.
Ferraro said the two women left. After several minutes, the man, later identified as Babinetz, exited and was taken into custody.
When informed about the cameras and read his Miranda rights, Ferraro said, Babinetz admitted to taking more than 100 beer taps and selling them at Renninger's Auction near Orwigsburg.
Babinetz said that he was "trying to get a little extra money on the side" and that was all, Ferraro said.
The Yuengling employee told officers that the cleaning crew had no reason to go into the point-of-sale room.
Ferraro said the investigation determined the value of the stolen taps was $2,371.16.
Contact the writer: fandruscavage@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6013
