Former Angola Employees Arrested

Three for­mer employ­ees of an Angola com­pany are now fac­ing theft charges after they allegeldy vio­lated com­pany pol­icy through the alleged unau­tho­rized sale of scrap mate­ri­als. Now, all three will head to trial in Steuben Cir­cuit Court next Feb­ru­ary. 59-year-old James Van Vlerah Junior of West Otter Lake is charged with three counts of theft. His wife, 58-year-old Karen, is fac­ing two counts, and 55-year-old For­rest Hicks of Pleas­ant Lake has been charged with one count of theft. The three were arrested fol­low­ing an inves­ti­ga­tion into the dis­ap­pear­ance of more than $12,000 worth of scrap mate­r­ial. Writ­ten com­pany pol­icy called for the scrap to be put into an approved con­tainer on a job site or on com­pany prop­erty. Oth­er­wise, the com­pany con­sid­ered it theft.