YORK COUNTY, SC (WBTV) -
York County Sheriff's Office recently arrested three men they say were involved in multiple cases copper theft and damage to property, including one incident that caused a power outage in parts of Clover on February 20.
Gary Lee Scott, 27, Mark Allen Main, 23, and Robert Keith Sweeney, 45, were arrested and charged with multiple counts of grand larceny, criminal conspiracy, larceny, malicious injury to telephone/electrical systems, and possession of tools capable of being used in a crime.
The arrests came as a result of an investigation that began in December of 2012, concerning thefts from various cell phone towers and electric co-op substations located in Clover, Sharon, Hickory Grove, York and Smyrna, the official report states.
On the night of February 20, York Electric contacted the York County Sheriff's Office to report that grounding wires had been cut at a sub-station on Green Pond Road in Clover. The York County K-9 team was activated and canine units led deputies nearly 1.5 miles to a home on Cloverleaf Drive, where Scott and Main both live.
A search warrant was executed at the home, and detectives seized several items of evidence related to several theft cases. Information received during the search led detectives to the execution of a second search warrant at Sweeney's home on York Street in Sharon, deputies said.
There, detectives recovered cut wire connectors and four large batteries.
During interviews with the trio, deputies say statements were given implicating their involvement in approximately 9 cases in York County, Charlotte, and Gaston County, NC.
The current monetary amount in theft and damages in the York County cases totals over $22,500, however, officials say the investigation is ongoing.
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