An apparently frustrated would-be newsstand operator used a rented crane to steal five newsstands from city streets and redeposit them elsewhere, authorities said.
Fatai King of East Mount Airy had filed 42 applications for newsstand licenses with Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections only to have each rejected, they said.
So King lifted the boxes into the air and then positioned them on some of the corners where he had hoped to operate, according to authorities who charged him Thursday with theft and receiving stolen property.
He relocated one stand from University City to Center City while moving another from the Northeast to West Philadelphia, officials said.
King was also wanted in Montgomery County for failing to appear for a court time.