(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 3.)
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Two men were arrested and charged with stripping copper wire from a utility pole, disabling a train signaling device temporarily Wednesday.
David Sutherland, 61, and William Stokes, 49, were both apprehended after a CSX signal maintenance worker spotted the two along the tracks where signaling problems had been reported.
They fled into a nearby wooded area, and railroad security caught one and called for assistance from Savannah-Chatham Police. After officers arrived, they found the other man walking out of the woods covered in mud, police said.
A police dog linked Sutherland’s scent to a tool used to steal the wire, and officers recovered 50-100 pounds of wire that had been ripped down nearby.
Detectives were trying to determine if the two were linked to other copper thefts. Records from local recyclers indicated they had conducted at least four transactions in a month, police said.
Sutherland and Stokes were charged with theft, committing an unlawful act in public transit by rendering a safety device inoperable, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.