Charge: Brothers took drain grates

                                  Police say they stole more than 1,000 sewer grates and sold them for scrap.

                                  Two Montgomery County brothers have been charged with stealing $500,000 worth of storm-sewer grates in the region and selling them for about $9,000 as scrap.
                                  Brian Vetrulli, 36, and John Vetrulli, 38, of Gilbertsville, were charged Saturday with theft and related offenses.
                                  Police said an Upper Merion Township officer on routine patrol spotted the brothers in a vehicle matching the description of one used in sewer-grate thefts in Bensalem.
                                  During the traffic stop, the officers saw a large pry bar in the bed of the truck.  Brian Vetrulli was found to have an outstanding warrant for theft.
                                  A search of the truck found receipts from as far back as Dec. 14 for more than 1,000 grates that were sold to scrap-metal dealers for $9 each.  The grates, which weigh about 100 pounds each, cost $475, according to police.  The brothers, who were questioned and confessed to the thefts from Philadelphia, Limerick, Collegeville, Plymouth Meeting, Willow Grove, Abington, Bensalem, Haverford, Broomall, Upper Providence, and Montgomeryville, according to police.
                                  They were remanded to the Montgomery County jail with bail set at $10,000 each.