Alleged thief with a lot of brass - and bronze - might still be at large if only he'd had a pickup truck

With bronze plaques disappearing at an alarming rate in Newton last week, the Newton PD alerted its officers Saturday to be on the lookout. According to the Middlesex Count District Attorney's office, one officer promptly reported an unusual traffic stop he'd conducted on March 24:

The officer stated he was at a stop sign and observed a car with a large sign upside down and hanging from the trunk. The officer followed the vehicle and pulled it over in fear that the sign would fall out of the trunk. [Vincent] Cedrone, the operator of the vehicle, stated he had found the sign in the middle of the street and picked it up in hopes that it was worth money. After answering the officer's questions without hesitation, Cedrone was sent on his way.

On Saturday afternoon, Newton officers visited Cedrone's apartment, where he told him he cut up the sign and took it to a salvage yard, which paid him $50. They noticed some copper shavings Later that day, Belmont Police forwarded video showing a man who looked an awful lot like Cedrone stealing a bronze plaque from Belmont Town Hall:

Police responded to the defendant's home later that night and arrested him. During their investigation, police located seven plaques; six of them are known to have been stolen from the City of Boston.

Those are the six bench plaques from the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Boston Police were scheduled to return this evening.

Cedrone was arraigned today in Newton District Court. Judge Klein ordered him held on $2,500 cash bail, the DA's office said.

Wicked Local Newton has the Belmont video, shows a guy in a small white coupe.