EAST FISHKILL – Police were able to nab two of five men who had broken into one of the large buildings at the former IBM West campus on Route 52. That part of the campus was purchased by the Linuo Solar Group of China.

The men were in the building cutting out large sections of heavy copper cables and copper pipes and loading them into a truck.

One of the men was caught inside while the other was captured by East Fishkill Police outside. Police Chief Brian Nichols identified them as Antonio Hernandez-Perez, 33, and Humberto Torralva-Gomez, 29, both of Westbury, Long Island. They were charged with burglary and criminal mischief and he expected grand larceny charges also to be filed.

The federal Immigration, Customs Enforcement agency is also looking into the status of the two men, he said.

Nichols said there have been a rash of similar crimes committed around the state where groups of burglaries break into large, vacant commercial buildings and remove copper, which is then sold for scrap netting them hundreds of thousands of dollars.