BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — For three men in Martin County, the promise of fast cash in the form of stripped copper wire may have seemed worth the risk. What they got instead was a jail cell.

Authorities say Ricky J. Sartin, 60, Charles Ray Crum, 42, and Jackie Blackburn, 60, are the men behind copper theft that crippled phone, internet and cable service across Martin County on April 6 — right in the middle of dangerous flash flooding. The trio, according to investigators, cut utility lines belonging to AT&T and Optimum on Gordon Hollow Road in Beauty, leaving residents countywide without phone, internet and TV cable—and more dangerously, unable to call 911 during a natural disaster.

Now, all three suspects are behind bars.

Special Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy J.C. Kirk found tools the suspects left behind at the scene—wire snips, a janky step ladder and a blue University of Kentucky baseball cap. From there, it did not take long for the case to start unraveling.

Acting on a tip, he took Sartin down first April 9 at his house on Gordon Hollow. Sartin denied everything but let the deputy look around. That is when Kirk spotted aluminum wire casings in a shed and found 71 pounds of stripped copper stashed in a pillowcase inside the home.

The deputy obtained arrest warrants for the trio April 10 and picked up Crum and Blackburn in separate arrests Sunday. He caught Crum on Setser Branch in Debord and Blackburn on Coldwater Road in Inez. He served a warrant on Sartin at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.

The three now face charges connected to the vandalism and theft, which caused more than $12,500 in damage to AT&T copper infrastructure alone.

Each of the suspects is under a $10,000 cash bond.