Alleged Serial Metal Thief Gets Slammed With More Charges

A Camden man who recently confessed to $41,000 in metal thefts in West Deptford was hit with even more charges this week, after Gloucester Township Police on Wednesday filed charges against him for allegedly taking nine air-conditioning units from two private businesses and a public school in the township in late June and early July.

The alleged crimes were committed on the grounds of the former Charlie Brown's Restaurant on Little Gloucester Road, The Goddard School on Chews Landing Road, and Blackwood Elementary School on Erial Road.

The Gloucester Township charges are the latest filed against alleged serial metal thief Michael T. Klopp by South Jersey law-enforcement officials in recent weeks.

Gloucester Township Police Det. William Westphal signed the local criminal complaints against Klopp, accusing him of the following:

• Stealing five air-conditioning units from The Goddard School between 8 p.m. June 20 and 7:45 a.m. June 21
• Stealing two air-conditioning units from the roof of Blackwood Elementary School overnight June 28-29
• Stealing two air-conditioning units from the former Charlie Brown's Restaurant overnight July 4-5

Police say Klopp returned to Charlie Brown's the next night to steal units from the shuttered restaurant's rooftop, but was thwarted by increased patrols in the unit—a reaction to the rash of reported air conditioner thefts beginning in late June.

Westphal's complaints charge Klopp with four counts of theft and criminal mischief.

Klopp, 45, recently admitted to stealing a total of seven air-conditioning units from West Deptford businesses during a crime spree in late June and early July. According to West Deptford police, he confessed to stealing four units from the roof of Greenfields Veterinary Associates on Parkville Station Road on June 18 and three from RJ Graphics on Crown Point Road between June 29 and July 1.

Those confessions came last Tuesday, after Klopp was already locked up in Camden County Jail on similar theft charges filed by Deptford and Voorhees police.

Klopp remained jailed as of Thursday afternoon for his alleged crimes across South Jersey.