Five men arrested for stealing AT&T lines
BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Police arrested five men in connection with a string of copper thefts that has caused widespread telephone outages in Martin County.
The five men are Julian Preece, aka Alex Adkins, 23, of Inez; Zachary Dials, 30, of Warfield; Cody Gullett, 21, of Pilgrim; James Tyler Harmon, 30, of Debord; and Willie Bob McCoy, 40, of Pilgrim.
They are accused of cutting and stealing AT&T phone lines at Sweetwater Road on Blacklog, near the entrance of Collins Creek and on Route 292 in Hode.
Preece, Dials, Gullet and Harmon are charged with theft by unlawful taking $1,000-$10,000. McCoy is charged with receiving stolen property under $500.
Harmon, arrested Oct. 5 by Martin County Deputy Chris Kidd, is also charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine).
Dials was implicated in the copper thefts numerous times, according to Deputy Kidd. During questioning Thursday, Dials allegedly admitted to stealing phone lines from three locations within the county. Kidd said Dials was at a residence on Groundhog Hollow in Warfield when police discovered two burn piles. Dials was assisting in processing the copper.
After acquiring a warrant for Preece, Deputy Kidd went Monday to his residence on Otto Drive in Inez, where he found two burn piles containing copper stripped from stolen phone lines. Preece allegedly admitted his involvement in the theft and divulged that he had taken the processed copper to Mountain Metal in Prestonsburg and sold it for cash.
Gullett turned himself in Thursday to Deputy Kidd after learning there was a warrant for his arrest. He also allegedly admitted to his part in the theft.
McCoy was taken into custody Tuesday when Kidd initiated a traffic stop in Beauty on a vehicle McCoy was operating after seeing him cross the center line multiple times. The deputy recognized McCoy as one of the suspects in the copper thefts. Allegedly, McCoy admitted to committing theft of one section of telephone line near Collins Creek and led Kidd to a location where the copper was processed and ready to sell. Mccoy was also charged with failure to maintain vehicle insurance and no registration.
Kidd said tips from residents played an essential part in identifying those accused of cutting AT&T phone lines at Sweetwater, Collins Creek and Hode.
“I was amazed at the number of tips the sheriff’s office received during this investigation,” remarked Kidd. “We owe the residents of Martin County a huge debt of gratitude.”
Sheriff John Kirk said cooperation is what it takes and his office is committed to stopping cable theft in the county.
“The public acts as our eyes and ears when we are in one part of the county investigating a case, and something happens in another location,” Kirk said. “The theft of the phone lines left a great number of families and individuals without a way to call 911 in an emergency such as needing an ambulance, fire or law enforcement. The self-serving action of a few created hardship for many. This cannot continue, and we won’t allow it to happen.
“To all those committing copper thefts, know we’re coming for you and we won’t stop until all involved are brought to justice,” added the sheriff.
Kirk has spoken with one salvage yard owner and plans to contact others about purchasing the copper. He said the right thing to do would be to contact local law enforcement if salvage yards have repeat customers with an amount of copper that requires an explanation.
“If you receive property that you suspect is stolen, you could possibly find yourself in trouble. And we don’t want to see that happen,” said Kirk. “Salvage yards are in the business to make money, as all businesses are, but they need to err on the side of caution when buying copper, especially when it’s a larger amount.”
County Attorney Melissa Phelps joins the sheriff in his commitment to seeing a halt to thefts of this nature that damage critical infrastructure and create a potential safety hazard for the residents left without phone access, especially in areas within the county where there’s no cell service.
“We have a lot of elderly in our county, and the thought of one of them having an emergency and not being able to call for help is very worrisome,” said Phelps. “We have outages that are attributed to storms and high winds, and although they also create an inconvenience, the weather is something we can’t control. However, when communities are left without phone service because of a theft of line, that’s a completely different story.”
Phelps remarked that inevitably, the consumer would pay the price for what the thieves steal because of the high cost the utility company is out to replace the stolen line.
“They’re going to want to recoup their loss, and the only way to do that is to raise the monthly rate of their customers, many of whom are already financially strapped with the rising costs of day-to-day living,” said the prosecutor. “It’s a domino effect, and we are forced to bear the burden of higher utility costs because of the criminal actions of a few.”
Deputy Kidd said the copper theft investigation is ongoing, as other names have come up. Kidd noted that surrounding counties in Kentucky and West Virginia are dealing with the same crime, and certain individuals are suspected of crossing county and state lines to expand their criminal activities.
“We will catch those responsible, and they’ll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said the deputy.
If you have information about copper thefts, contact the sheriff’s department at 606-298-2828 or call Martin County dispatch. Kirk said callers could remain anonymous.