Arrest made in shrubbery theft in Northeast Philadelphia

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police have made an arrest in the theft of a prized topiary from a home in Northeast Philadelphia.

Today police said they arrested 41-year-old Joseph Medycki for the crime.

Action News first showed you this surveillance footage last week after the homeowner took to social media in hopes of catching the shrubbery thief.

Last Thursday afternoon surveillance video captured a man, believed to be Medycki, drive up to the property in a white pickup that appeared to have greenery in the back.

He gets out, checks to make sure no one is home, and then attacks and starts literally ripping out a Juniper bush that has been clipped and trimmed as a ground hugging topiary.

Home owner Michelle Hartner is upset and frustrated. She has tended the ornamental in her front garden since she planted them 15 years ago.

Hartner says, "They were little babies. You know, little topiaries."

Topiaries can be expensive, and should be handled with care - not brutally torn out of the ground if you want to replant them, says Harry Swanson of Feeny's nursery.

Swanson tells us, "Save as many roots as you can, that way it wouldn't go into shock when you want to replant it."

With the help of her computer savvy son, Hartner supplied police with video of the suspect and then put images of the culprit up on Facebook.

On Friday afternoon, Hartner's son, Rich, told us, "Total on video we probably have 120,000 hits. Shares, I checked this morning, we had 2,000 shares. People from Florida to Texas."

Michelle Hartner tells us, "I wanted everyone to see him in the area. Everybody that could. Anybody that would hire a landscaper, anybody that's his neighbor - somebody has to know him."

It now appears someone did recognize the man.

Medycki is charged with theft-unlawful taking, and theft-receiving stolen property.