BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
LOVELY — Another attempted copper theft on North Wolf Road has left residents without working telephone service and deepened what they describe as a permanent loss of infrastructure in their rural area.
Around 8 a.m. Saturday, a caller traveling on State Route 1714/North Wolf Creek Road between Buck Branch and Webbville reported seeing a person sawing a telephone line that then dropped to the ground.
Constable Brad Preece responded to the call and arrived to find about 400 feet of cable lying beside the roadway, but the perpetrator was gone.
Preece called a local wrecker service to retrieve the line and deliver it to Martin County Sheriff John Kirk’s evidence storage.
In recent years, copper thieves have repeatedly targeted AT&T phone lines along North Wolf Creek Road, cutting and stripping cables for scrap. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office has arrested repeat offenders caught in the area.
The sheriff’s most recent arrest came in late September after a witness reported 33-year-old Kassandra Hamilton of Louisa, whose truck became stuck in the mud on private property with a ladder in the back and about 45 feet of cut telephone cable lying in the weeds nearby.
For Wolf Creek residents like Tim Smith, who has relied on his AT&T landline on Wolf Creek for over 50 years, the damage has resulted in nearly 20 service outages this year alone and, ultimately, a permanent loss of service. Smith said his most recent outage began Sept. 18. With no cell signal at his home, he repeatedly tried to get AT&T to restore his landline.
“We have been cut off so many times with no phone at all,” the 60-year-old Smith said. “Out here, if you don’t have service, you cannot even call for help.”
In an email Monday, AT&T representative Mike Nichelson told Smith the company had no alternative options.
“I truly understand how frustrating and inconvenient it can be to go without service, and I’m sorry for any difficulties this may have caused,” Nichelson wrote. “I took the time to check your address for any alternative services we might be able to offer, but unfortunately, there are currently no options available.”
Residents in other areas of Martin County report that they are experiencing the same situation—permanent loss of AT&T infrastructure.
Saturday’s incident is under investigation by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.