Area fisherman finds safe in river

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

June 09, 2009 07:47 am

— WATSONTOWN — Police would like to know more about a battered safe spotted by a fisherman along the Susquehanna River Saturday morning.
Police chief Dennis Derr said a fisherman coming in off the river to the boat ramp south of town saw the safe on the riverbank about 75 feet south of the ramp and called police at about 7:26 a.m.
“It had been forced open and had heavy damage to the door,” said Derr.
Derr said it took two officers to carry the safe, which he said weighed about 100 pounds, from the riverbank to the boat ramp to place it in a patrol car.
He believes whoever took the safe may have forced it open on the boat ramp and then moved it. A pair of vinyl gloves was found near the safe.
“We haven’t had any thefts or burglaries reported in the borough,” Derr said. “We’d like to know where it came from.”
The safe was manufactured by Sentry and is 18 by 17 by 20 inches, Derr said.
Derr said police within a 50-mile radius have been notified of the found safe.
Derr said the safe has been locked away as evidence, since whoever removed it and opened it may have committed a crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Watsontown Police Department at 538-2773.