Recycling facility helps police catch suspect after 77 fire hydrants damaged

ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) - Scrap yards are usually full of metal and hidden treasures, but this week, one of those yards helped police haul in something else - a scrap thief.

“Naturally, when they approached me, I was very happy to help and do anything I could and step forward and give them the information they needed,” Phillip Harbison, general manager at SA Recycling in St. Louis, exclaimed.

The recycling facility, located off of the Broadway, helped find the man who put countless lives in jeopardy.

“I genuinely just dislike thieves; I’m not a fan of thieves at all,” Harbison stated. “So it’s very important to me to get them off the street, and especially when they’re doing things that can harm our community.”

Over the past week, police have been searching for a suspect accused of damaging and stealing the components off of 77 fire hydrants across the City of St. Louis.

On Thursday, police arrested 65-year-old Harry Farmer in connection with that vandalism after they said surveillance video caught him sawing off the hydrants’ brass valves.

“We had a citizen who came forward. We were able to get video of this individual. We were able to obtain a name, but we had to do a case to make sure that we got it right, got the evidence, and then we had to track down video at each one of these known locations,” Chief Robert Tracy, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, said.

Farmer allegedly went to SA Recycling to sell the valves, which is when Harbison got him on camera and a picture of his ID.

“All the way from the second they pull onto this lot, they’re on camera,” he explained. “We have pictures of their ID; everything is stored in our database, so every transaction will have a picture of the material they brought in, of their ID, license plate, all of that.”

When police came to ask if they had any information about these incidents, Harbison said they were happy to cooperate.

“You don’t want those types of people out in the city and I want to stop the bad name that’s being given to scrap yards, and that’s why we keep the records we do and are able to help when the police do come and ask for help,” he stated.

Farmer has now been charged with eight felonies.

“Damaging fire hydrants creates a major public safety risk,” Chief Tracy said. “Firefighters depend on working hydrants to protect lives and property - interfering with that access puts residents, businesses and first responders in danger.”

“I’ve been Fire Chief for 19 years, been in this city for 48 with the fire department. I’ve never, ever seen anything like this. Traveled around the country, I’ve never seen hydrants vandalized like this intentionally,” Chief Dennis Jenkerson, St. Louis Fire Department, stated.

For recycling facilities like Harbisons, they just have one message to other scrap thieves.

“I will not buy it; don’t bring it to SA Recycling. SA Recycling does not want stolen scrap… some of us will absolutely do our part and help the community and put criminals behind bars," he said.

As of Friday evening, Farmer is in custody, but police still have to extradite him back to Missouri from Illinois.

The investigation remains ongoing. Police want anyone with more information on the damaged hydrants to contact 314-444-2500 and talk to District 4 detectives.