Three Michigan men sought for copper wire theft Created: 11/18/2010 5:51:30 PMPolice in Kent County, Michigan are pursuing three men suspected of stealing more than $10,000 of copper wire, tubing and tools from stores in Michigan and Ohio, mlive.com reports. The men have been charged with felony offenses with potential prison terms of up to 20 years.
Lance Jason Trecek, 27, of Grand Rapids; Thomas Anthony Schafer, 23, of Muskegon; and Franklin Roy Miller, 38, of Lansing, are the alleged thieves. The men steal primarily from hardware stores. According to police, one man places large items, such as drywall, in a cart and goes to the cashier as a distraction. While he purchases the item, an accomplice sneaks out of the store with the copper wire.
The men have stolen from stores in several counties. Trecek and Miller have had past convictions. Trecek is on parole from a prior theft conviction and Miller was sentenced to probation earlier this year for drug possession.
The thieves’ method of stealing copper from stores differ from that of many wire thieves. One recent thief was severely burned attempting to steal copper wire from a substation in Pennsylvania. The attempt caused a blackout for more than 3,000 residents in the area.
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