Traffic cameras are great for checking traffic flow, weather conditions and crash sites.
On Wednesday morning, one York County camera was also good for catching a pair of men who appear to be stealing a road sign.
A state Department of Transportation employee was doing a routine camera check and saw two men taking a sign on Interstate 83 in the area of the southbound Shrewsbury exit ramp, according to safety press officer Fritzi Schreffler. The camera showed two men clearly taking one of two signs from that spot and placing it in the back of a silver pickup.
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The men parked the pickup on the shoulder and opted for the blue “attractions” sign instead of the red “wrong way” sign.
The sign alone would cost $600 to replace, but that doesn’t include the post or labor to install it, according to PennDOT.
Schreffler said the PennDOT employee reported the incident to Pennsylvania State Police, who picked up the men. She said it’s highly unusual to capture something like this.
“Usually we get stuff after the fact,” Schreffler said. “We get calls all of the time requesting video of crashes or whatever, but typically our cameras are facing the other way.”
Each shift performs a run through all of the cameras to make sure they are working.
PSP didn’t have the specifics of the incident when asked late Wednesday morning.
After the men left their spot on the shoulder of I-83, they stopped in a lot next to a PennDOT stockpile to further secure the sign, Schreffler said.
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Shelly Stallsmith is a trends reporter for the USA Today Network. She can be reached at mstallsmith@ydr.com or followed on Twitter at @ShelStallsmith.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Traffic cam: PennDOT worker sees apparent theft on York County camera
