By Jon King and Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A Pinckney man is heading to trial on charges of stealing $100,000 worth of scrap metal from his workplace.

Last July, Pinckney Police began an investigation of suspected thefts from a business on Hamburg Street in the Village. Detective Ryan Hamlin determined that an employee, 38-year-old Ian Lumley, started stealing metal within a week of his employment in November of 2019. Certain machines at the business had also stopped working due to electric wiring being removed.

Police located the various types of metal, which included copper, brass, stainless steel and aluminum at various scrap dealers in Washtenaw and Wayne counties. Witnesses reported seeing Lumley fill boxes with metal, although no one was sure what he was doing with them.

Detective Hamlin said he was able to obtain a confession from Lumley, who allegedly blamed a lack of surveillance equipment for making it easy to steal the metal.

Last Tuesday, he was bound over to trial by District Court Judge Shauna Murphy on one charge of embezzling more than $50,000 but less than $100,000. If convicted, Lumley could face up to 15 years in prison. Lumley is being lodged in Livingston County Jail on $5,000 bond. No future court dates have yet been set.