A Seth man has been charged in connection with the theft of copper and aluminum wire from an area hit hard by recent storms.
Robert Graham Powers, 22, of Seth, had warrants file against him by The Boone County Sheriff’s Office after the department recovered over 1,000 feet of stolen power utility wire.
The Sheriff’s Office received tips from concerned citizens in the Toney’s Branch area of Bloomingrose that a man had wire lying at his residence, which they believed may have been stolen.
When deputies arrived at the residence, they found several hundred pounds of copper and aluminum wire that appeared to have been taken from electrical utility lines in the area.
Once collected, officials from Appalachian Power Company confirmed that the cable was their electrical wire.
Investigators believe that the wire came from the Prenter area of Boone County, which suffered a great deal of damage from recent storms. Area residents have been without electricity since the first round of storms that took place on Friday, June 29.
Powers is charged with the felony charges of: 1)damage or destruction of public utility company property which carries a 1 to 3 year prison sentence and up to a $5,000.00 fine; and 2) grand larceny which carries 1 to 10 years in prison.
Sheriff’s Investigators and security officials with Appalachian Power have joined forces in an attempt to combat theft of electrical cable, which is even more important during these times of severe outages, according to Boone County Sheriff Rodney Miller.
Powers is currently being held in the Southwestern Regional Jail and no bond amount was listed on the jail’s Web site as of Monday, July 9.
Post a Comment
