Stolen trash can recovered. Photo by MBTA.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a man they say used a hand truck to try to steal a 441-pound trash barrel from the Melville Street side of the Shawmut stop on the Red Line.

Officers found Patrick Beech, 23, wheeling the "bomb-mitigation barrel" down Hancock Street on a hand truck, covered with a blanket, according to a police report. The large silver cylinder is designed to resist the impact of any explosions from devices tossed in it. The police report states: "He stated that he found the barrel "on the side of the road." Beech stated he had 'seen a special on television and that the barrels did not work, so he decided to take it anyway.' We asked where he was going with the barrel and Beech stated that 'he was on the way to a warehouse.' "

Police say a customer-service agent at the station was alerted to the heavy theft by a nearby resident who had been walking her dog when she saw Patrick, who "seemed to be struggling with the weight of [the barrel] as he moved down the street."

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports Beech failed to show up at his arraignment in Dorchester District Court today and that a warrant was issued for his arrest.