Suspect identified in theft of $80,000 of copper wire from AT&T facility in Athens
A Forsyth County man is a suspect in the theft of nearly $80,000 worth of copper wiring from an AT&T facility in Athens during a spree of burglaries in recent weeks, according to Athens-Clarke police.
Police announced this week that they have charged Johnross Tyler Youngblood, 31, of Cumming with two counts of burglary and two counts of felony theft by taking.
Almost 2,000 pounds of copper wire have been recovered as a result of the investigation by police Lt. Jody Thompson and Detective Erik Ellison, police said.
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“The main suspect is a former contractor who had stolen copper from other locations in the state,” according to police. The locations of those other thefts were not identified.
Youngblood, who resides north of Cumming near the community of Silver City, has been in the Gwinnett County Jail since his arrest on Sept. 15 on charges of burglary and possession of a controlled substance. Details of those charges were not released by Gwinnett County police on Wednesday.
Athens-Clarke police said more arrests are possible.
The break-ins at the AT&T facility on Winterville Road were first reported on Sept. 9, when an officer met with an employee who said he noticed reels of copper wire missing on Aug. 1 along with two pallets of copper wire, one containing 8,100 feet of wire.
The value of the missing wire was placed at $28,646.
The employee reported he could find no damage to the two gates the burglar would have had to access to haul away the wire, according to the report.
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Police were again dispatched to the location on Aug. 15, where an estimated $2,000 worth of copper wiring was missing. Police also learned that due to company policy the site did not have security cameras in place.
Police were sent to AT&T just two days later, where someone had taken an estimated $4,450 worth of copper wire and again there were no signs of a forced entry, according to the report.
The fourth theft was reported on Aug. 9 and this time the thief hauled off $44,200 worth of copper, noted to the report
However, by this time a security camera had been installed inside the building and a game camera was concealed on the outside, according to police. The cameras were successful, police said, at recording the suspect entering the building.
The suspect did not damage the fences to gain entrance, so it appears this person had somehow obtained a key, according to the report.
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This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Man charged in theft of valuable copper wire from Athens site
