Thirteen since mid-October

BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

TOMAHAWK — Police arrested two more suspects amid a rash of thefts targeting telephone lines in the Tomahawk area.

The Martin County Sheriff John Kirk’s Office arrested 42-year-old Jason Mollett and 26-year-old Jeremy Tyler Jude for theft.

Kirk said the two were involved in cutting and taking copper phone lines and fiber optic lines from Tomahawk just below the Tomahawk Freewill Baptist Church around 3-4 a.m. Thursday.

Chief Deputy Chris Kidd caught Mollett processing the copper and arrested him around 7:50 a.m. Thursday at his residence on Rockhouse Road.

Sheriff Kirk had received an anonymous tip that the stolen AT&T wire was located at Mollett’s address. When law enforcement arrived, they saw Mollett cutting and processing the copper lines inside a building through a hole in the wall.

“We saw some 300 power cable laying across the road where the two had cut the cable,” Kidd said. “He had that copper in his building and was processing it at the time we arrived.”

During the investigation, officers discovered Mollett had been involved in cutting copper wire several times and had sold copper for himself and others at Mountain Metal in Prestonsburg.

Invoices from Mountain Metal show Mollett had received close to $6,000 over the last few months for selling stolen copper at Mountain Metals.

For AT&T, the incident Thursday was a $6,500 loss.

“That’s just for one incident,” said Kidd. “They said that it is subject to change and could go up. The supervisor said they were still working. They didn’t realize how far it went up into the mountain. It could jump upward of $18,000 that AT&T has lost on this one section.”

Kirk arrested Jude around 2 p.m. Sunday on Rockhouse Road and Mills Branch.

“I went to see him about another situation,” Kirk said. “He was walking across the road and had the wire on him.”

Mollett is facing one count of theft by unlawful taking $500-$1,000, while Jude is facing one count of theft by unlawful taking $1,000-$10,000.

It was not immediately clear how many residents lost their phone and internet services because of the theft.

Copper line theft has been widespread in recent months in Martin County. Since mid-October, the sheriff’s office has arrested 13 copper theft suspects.

Sheriff Kirk warned scrapyards buying stolen copper wire in a Facebook post Saturday morning: “I promise you that if I get enough evidence to obtain warrants for the companies buying this, then they will be booked into the bed-and-breakfast.”

The sheriff also asks for help from residents: “If we are ever going to make Martin County a better place to live, we must all get involved. If you see a thief cutting a line, call us immediately. If you see a suspect vehicle in the area, call us.”

You can call the sheriff’s office at 606-298-2828. You do not have to give your name.