Drew J. Canning, 30, admitted to breaking into Riverdale Environmental Recycling in Wantage numerous times between March 2019 and February 2020, Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch said.
Canning, of Pompton Lakes, took keys from the office and unlocked the facility's gate before driving a truck with a plow back to his home and keeping the plow, Koch said.
On another occasion, Canning scraped the signs off the truck intending to use it as his own personal vehicle but abandoned it at a Walmart parking lot from fear of being caught, authorities said.
He was later seen using a tractor at the facility and placed under arrest by state police, authorities said.
Canning pleaded guilty to five third-degree burglary charges as well as multiple counts of receiving stolen property, criminal mischief, fourth-degree theft and unlawful taking means of conveyance, Koch said.
Canning was also arrested in December 2018 after breaking into his former workplace of McCobbs Restaurant on Hamburg Turnpike, stealing hundreds of dollars in cash and attempting to break into the eatery’s safe, police said.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20.
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