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SALT LAKE CITY — A Granger High metal shop teacher is facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing over $9,500 in scrap metal, taking the metal to a recycling company and keeping the cash he was given in exchange.
Michael Pettit, 45, of Lehi, was charged with one count of theft, a second-degree felony, in 3rd District Court Tuesday. Pettit could face 1 to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.
"It's always disappointing when you find that one of our employees acted inappropriately or... not following our proceeduers or protocol," said Granite District Spokesperson Ben Horsley. "However, it's one of those siutaitons when there is an opportunity."
According to the charging documents, a Granite police detective was called to the school at 3690 S. 3600 West on on Aug. 18 after receiving reports that metal totaling $9,523 had been stolen between June 1 and Aug. 18, 2011.
The detective questioned Pettit, who said he had been "cleaning the shop out" by throwing the metal out in dumpsters. Pettit later told police that he had taken some metal home for his personal use.
Another school instructor was interviewed and said he was taking some books to a storage area in the metal shop, when he noticed Pettit "went out of his way" to keep the teacher from where the metal was stored, the charges state.
"Pettit stated that he kept the money received from Western Recycling and used it for personal purchases," according to charging documents.
"(The teacher) eventually found that metal inventory, supplies, metal tools and equipment used by students were missing," charging documents state.
When he confronted Pettit, Pettit said he had donated all of the metal to a technical college in Orem. The teacher contacted the college and was told they had received no donations from Pettit or Granger High.
Managers at Western Metals Recycling locations in Provo and Salt Lake City told police that Pettit had scrapped various metals at the company on as many as seven different occasions, receiving over $2,000 in return, court documents state.
The documents said that on once occasion Pettit sold almost 3,000 pounds of metal to Western Metals Recycling in Salt Lake City.
Police then talked to Granger High School principal Jerry Haslam, who told them that the school has a contract with a company that allows them to trade their old scrap metal for new materials.
Pettit told police that he had recycled all the metal, tools and equipment that were missing from the high school without permission. He said he was aware that he could trade the metal for new metal but "wasn't thinking," the charges state.
"Pettit stated that he kept the money received from Western Recycling and used it for personal purchases," according to charging documents.
Story written by Emiley Morgan with contributions from [Shara Park.](<mailto: spark@ksl.com>)
