VIDEO According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, three men were arrested and accused of breaking into an inactive 150-foot tower last Wednesday. The trio allegedly cut the guy wires, causing the tower to crash into the on-site shed and then returned to the scene on Saturday to steal aluminum, copper and other scrap metal from the site, according to WALA-TV.
Lt. Bobby Jeter said it’s one of the stranger cases he’s ever seen. “I got in law enforcement when I got out of the service in ’96. I’ve never seen a cell phone tower cut down before,” he said.
A nearby resident called investigators when the individual heard activity at the site Saturday afternoon. Deputies and McIntosh police then closed in on the suspected thieves, reported WALA.
“The generator was running, so there was three guys in the woods cutting the tower up,” Jeter said. “They was able to sneak up on them and they didn’t even hear them, because the generator was making so much noise.”
William Cameron, Ricky Reed, and David Weaver were all arrested and charged with criminal mischief, a felony. All three are being held on $15,000 bond.
Deputies said the suspects had already loaded some of the tower on their truck by the time law enforcement personnel arrived. “That was just the metal, but the antennas that were on here, they’re all aluminum…” said Jeter. “They were gonna…eventually, if nobody caught them, salvage this whole tower.”
The cell tower was not operational and had no power going to it at the time, reported WALA.
Published April 10, 2019
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