By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A Lane Construction employee caught a man stealing more than 600 metal dowels from a construction site on Interstate 85, according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials are looking for Christopher Wlodarchak, 38, of the 8700 block of Apple Dale Drive, Charlotte. He used his identification to pawn the metal at a Concord scrap metal yard, authorities said.

The metal was stolen from the 6800 block of I-85 on Monday. A Lane Construction employee was traveling in the northbound lane and saw a burgundy Dodge Dakota pickup parked in the median. The employee said a white man and white woman were loading green epoxied dowels into the truck.

The employee tried to keep them from leaving, but the truck was seen heading out on U.S. 29. The employee was able to get the license plate number. He contacted authorities and told them the dowels were valued at $5 each.

Officers checked the residence that the license plate was registered to but did not find the truck.

The officers checked several scrap dealers in Rowan and Cabarrus counties. Someone with L&L Cord Recycling in Concord told officers the business had bought a large number of metal dowels from a man who’d just left. The owner said he thought the transaction was odd and set the metal aside.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Christopher Wlodarchak is asked to contact the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office at 704-216-8668 or Salisbury-Rowan CrimeStoppers at 866-639-5245.