State Worker Charged With Stealing Scrap Metal

9/28/2012 (Updated 10/1/2012 1:50:52 PM)

A state worker has been accused of stealing scrap metal from a DOT facility, selling it for cash and and pocketing the proceeds.
   
Authorities say 55-year-old Rocco Ranucci of Vestal was stealing the scrap metal and selling it to a local scrap yard for a profit from May to July of this year.

Ranucci has been working as a full-time highway maintenance worker with the DOT in Binghamton for almost 4 years.

He was responsible for maintenance, debris removal and snow plowing state roads. He's been charged with three counts of Petit Larceny and one count of Official Misconduct.

If convicted he faces up to one year in jail.