FWC officers catch men stealing copper
News Release
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Media contact: Joy Hill, 352-258-3428
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC) officers patrolling Lake George Wildlife Management Area
Friday night caught a pair of Volusia County men stealing copper
wire from a utility pole. The two men now face felony and
misdemeanor charges.
FWC officers James Yetter, Patrick Koch and Duane
North were on routine patrol when they spotted a suspicious vehicle
driving back and forth on Nine Mile Point Road in the public
hunting area. They watched the vehicle stop and two men get out
near a public utility pole. One of the men climbed a ladder and cut
the ground wire, and the two of them put the copper wire in the
back of their truck.
The officers arrested Brian Keith Fender (DOB
01-10-85) of Deland and Thomas Joseph Reynolds (DOB 11-25-83) of
Deleon Springs. They were each charged with theft from a public
utility (first-degree felony) and trespass on a public utility pole
(first-degree misdemeanor). Both were booked into Volusia County
Jail on $5,500 bond each.
The FWC impounded the truck and placed the wire in
evidence. Volusia County Sheriff's Office deputies assisted the FWC
officers and transported the suspects to the jail.
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