Mar 26, 2015 2 min read

A Waynesburg man was arrested by state police Thursday after he and another man allegedly stole a utility trailer containing a pipe fusing machine and tools valued at $47,000 from a natural gas well site in Greene Township.

Michael Edward Phillips, 26, of 1530 Morris St. was arrested when he attempted to sell the machine to an undercover trooper working with the state police auto theft task force, according to the criminal complaint.

The trailer and equipment are owned by West Penn Energy Service LLC and was reported stolen from an ECA Corp. well site off Garards Fort Road between March 20 and Monday.

Members of the task force learned Phillips was attempting to sell a pipe fusing machine, police said. Phillips was contacted by an undercover trooper and he affirmed he had a pipe fusing machine for sale.

Phillips told the trooper to meet him in the parking lot behind the New Freeport post office. Police went to the post office and found the utility trailer and the pipe fusing machine.

Phillips was taken into custody and later told police he and another man had taken the trailer and attempted to sell the machine at several pawn shops in West Virginia. The other man, whose name is included in the complaint, has not been charged.

Phillips was arraigned before District Judge Lee Watson on one count of conspiracy to commit theft and two counts of theft, all felonies. He was placed in Greene County jail on $50,000 bond and faces a preliminary hearing before Watson at 2:30 p.m. April 1.