THOMPSON – A 34-year-old Monticello man has been arrested by State Police and charged with stealing copper piping from the walls of a bar.

Police said a witness spotted Elmer Ortiz of Carriage House Apartments in Monticello pulling copper piping off the walls at Red Beard’s Tavern on Sacks Road in the Town of Thompson. The witness confronted Ortiz, who fled the area in a white minivan.

The license plate number was provided to police, who identified Ortiz as a suspect. He was arrested without incident at his residence. The proceeds of the burglary were recovered.

Ortiz was charged with third-degree burglary and remanded to the Sullivan county Jail without bail pending a future court appearance.