Explanations don't work; man charged

Jordan Thomas Delpiano

A Rowan County man is charged with felony larceny after authorities say he stole $10,000 worth of aluminum from Rowan Vocational Opportunities then tried to pass off his girlfriend as his mother, who he said gave him the metal.

Jordan Thomas Delpiano, 21, is in the Rowan County jail under $5,000 bond.

A Rowan County Sheriff’s Office report says a deputy was at the intersection of Stafford Estates Drive and Old Concord Road shortly before 3 a.m. today when he saw a Jeep Cherokee pulling a trailer speed by on Old Concord Road.

When the Jeep driver turned sharply onto Saint Paul’s Church Road, the deputy turned on his blue lights and stopped the vehicle. Inside the trailer, which had no lights or registration plate, he saw steel beams and pallets, the report said.

The driver of the Jeep, identified as Delpiano, initially told the deputy his mother had given him the aluminum, according to the report. A woman who answered a phone number provided by Delpiano said she was his mother and that she did give him the metal, but the woman hung up when the deputy asked her birth date and wouldn’t answer the phone again.

Delpiano then admitted the woman he’d had the deputy call was actually his girlfriend, the report says. After being charged with careless and reckless driving and resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer, he also admitted to stealing the aluminum.

Delpiano told the deputy he had pulled into a field beside Rowan Vocational Opportunities on Old Concord Road and loaded up the aluminum, which had been stacked beside the building, according to the report.

The report lists the owner of the aluminum as Norandal.