A St. Charles security guard has been accused of accepting payment from an alleged copper thief and after the guard told police he was the victim of armed robbery.

Frederick Miranda, 35, of Lisle, allegedly accepted a cash bribe to allow Mario Gomez, 33, of Lisle, access to the Applied Composites property in western St. Charles to steal copper transformers and scrap metal, police said. Miranda then called police to report the incident as a robbery, according to the report.

On May 10, Miranda was charged with criminal damage to property, filing a false report and felony theft. He is free on $35,000 bond.

Gomez was charged with stealing six copper transformers worth $15,000 from the Applied Composites plant in western St. Charles May 8 and is being held at the Kane County Correctional Center after he was unable to post $25,000 bail.

Gomez apparently emptied oil into a drain at the property, prompting a hazardous material call to the St. Charles fire department.

Before Miranda’s arrest, a St. Charles police officer went undercover to pose as the security guard on duty at the property. According to a police report, Gomez offered the undercover officer cash for access to the facility.

On April 13, Robert Paluch, 30, of the 1300 block of Lancaster Avenue, was found electrocuted to death at the Applied Composites property after he allegedly attempted to steal copper from the property.