Grounds cut at South River Electric Wade substation
by Mark Cowan
A Fayetteville man has been accused of stealing copper grounds from a utility company substation in Wade. The theft caused a power outage to 400 residents and compromised substation safety.
On Monday 2nd March 2015, surveillance video caught the accused cutting copper equipment grounds and removing them from the support structures of the electrical equipment at the substation owned by South River Electric Membership Corp.
The press release said he had cut the chain fence to get inside the station. When the wire was cut, an alarm was sent to South River Electric registering a malfunction and an employee responded. The employee found a van stuck in the mud and found the accused inside. He had cut approximately $200 in copper wire resulting in approximately $2,000 damage to the substation.
The accused was charged with one count of copper theft, cutting or otherwise injuring property to obtain nonferrous metals and one count of possession of methamphetamine after deputies found the drug in his pants, according to a news release from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
2 March 2015
Source: fayobserver.com
