PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN 6) — Two men are accused of stealing platinum off a United States Navy vessel that was in dry dock in Portland for repairs, according to police and prosecutors.Indictment
On Wednesday, a Multnomah County grand jury indicted Dylan Cruz Berry and Jozeph Victor Drummen. Both are charged with two count of aggravated first-degree theft, three counts of first-degree theft, two counts of second-degree burglary, and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief.
The case was investigated by Portland Police North Precinct Detectives Travis Fields and Peter McConnell. The theft was reported by Vigor Industrial on July 13. According to court records, Vigor Industrial was hired to prep and paint the USNS Guadalupe. According to the Navy, the vessel provides replenishment of fuel, fleet cargo and stores to other ships at sea.Damage to USNS Guadalupe
On July 11, a Vigor Industrial employee noticed that one of the cathodic anodes (a rod) that runs alongside the ship was missing. On July 13, crews discovered that 4 other rods had been damaged and needed replacement.
The anodes are made of steel that are wrapped in a thin layer of platinum, according to police. Anodes are used to protect the ship from electrolysis and used to prevent corrosion of metal surface. The rods had been cut by Berry and Drummen, who then removed all the platinum, according to police.
According to investigators, Vigor Industrial had to purchase 5 replacement rods at a total cost of $71,000. With labor and value of platinum, the cost of replacement will be much higher, police say.
Officers learned that a fence around Vigor Industrial had been damaged, and appeared to have been pulled away from the ground, court documents state.
Public Affairs Officer Sarah E. Burford with Military Sealift Command Pacific tells KOIN the USNS Guadalupe does not have military personnel. Instead, it is staffed by civilians. She says the vessel does have a security team. When the ship is docked, the security team works with local private port security team.
Burford said this is the first time a ship has been targeted by vandals on the west coast. She said the ship has since left Portland and is in Washington preparing for a support mission with the USS George Washington.Platinum pawned
Detective Fields checked a pawn system that catalogs items sold or pawned the in metro. His query found an item that was for sale listed as “21.0 G of platinum ribbon,” according to court records. When Fields was shown some of the platinum left at the shipyard, he saw it was very thin and could be easily peeled off with a knife of a razor.
The pawn shop that had the item listed is located in Vancouver, Wash. An employee emailed Fields a photo of the ribbon. It appeared to be the same thickness, width and length as the platinum stolen from the USNS Guadalupe. The platinum had been sold to the pawn shop on July 12 by a man using the name “Jozeph Dummen,” court documents state.
Detective McConnell got video from the pawn shop which shows a man, later identified as Berry, entering the store on July 12 with balled up metal that Berry claimed was platinum, court documents state. A short time later, Berry and Drummen both returned to the pawn shop with a woman and sold the platinum.
On July 13, police were tipped off that Berry and Drummen were back at the pawn shop trying to sell more platinum.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the cell phones belonging to Berry and Drummen. They also got warrants to get the location history of each phone.Cell phone records
On July 11, at 3:44 a.m., Drummen’s cell phone location was registering to cell phone towers near Vigor Industrial. His cell phone also hit the same towers near Vigor Industrial between 3:37 a.m. and 4:41 a.m. on July 13, records show.
Berry’s cell phone registered on towers near Vigor Industrial between 1:38 a.m. and 3:31 a.m. on July 11.An inside job: both men have ties to Vigor, according to records
Police learned that Drummen was an employee of Vigor Industrial and had been assigned to be a painter on ship.
During a police interview, Berry told detectives that he had not worked at Vigor Industrial since January and that the platinum was Drummen’s and that he “was just helping him sell it,” according to court documents.
Berry remains in custody in Clark County on theft related charges for trafficking stolen property. Drummen was arrested Friday night during a traffic stop. He was already released from the Multnomah County Detention Center on pre-trial release supervision, records show.
In a statement to KOIN 6 News, Caitlin Sause, the director of Government and Public Affairs, said:“We are constantly improving safety and security measures in our yard. The specifics of our security measures are kept internal so as to ensure that the security measures work. “In no way was the behavior of this employee consistent with our values as a company or the culture we are striving to create. We are taking the appropriate actions but are not able to elaborate on the specific measures taken. “We are unable to comment on any other specifics of a pending investigation. “