Quick work by a local police department has put a suspected copper thief behind bars. Joshua Fox is charged with nine felony counts for stealing copper ground wire from Duke Energy substations, but experts say, he's lucky he wasn't electrocuted.
We first told you about these thefts yesterday, Local 12's Rich Jaffe shares more on the arrest. 29-year-old Joshua Fox is a recovering heroin addict.
He told police he wasn't robbing Duke for drug money, just money to get by. But he was definitely staying busy. He cut the fence at this substation last Thursday, robbed another one minutes later, another one Saturday and another one yesterday.
Joshua Fox has told police he's been robbing Duke substations for the last four months, hitting a couple of them each week. Last week, he got between two and five thousand dollars of copper wire each time, but he also caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage which,of course, gets passed on to customers. Fox told investigators he had no training or expertise with electricity. He was just out for copper wire.
Johnna Reeder, Duke Energy: "These people are bold. They're going out in the middle of the day, in some instances, and effecting our equipment. It's... I'm surprised they would risk their own safety. We're talking electrocution here..."
Last Thursday, Pierce Township Police tracked Fox for more than a mile, through woods, briars and mud A tip from a driver, who gave him a ride, led police to a mobile home park this morning, where he was staying with family members.
Laetitia Schuler, Pierce Township Police: "YOU KNEW RIGHT OFF THE BAT THIS WAS YOUR GUY... absolutely. He matched the description, he had the build, the facial hair and the scratches on the face."
Confronted by police, Fox gave it all up... and the list of his crimes grows by the moment.
"At this point, I believe we're up to six of the power station break-ins around Clermont County and there will be more. He was cooperative. He admitted to the offenses and apologized, gave a full confession, as well as writing a letter of apology to Duke Energy."
You heard it right, Fox wrote a letter of apology to Duke. In it, he said he was sorry for the things he did... said...times are hard right now and I did not know what to do...will pay it back, if given time... won't do these things any more... sorry for stealing from you Duke Energy. He was stealing big heavy, copper grounding wire, and he stole 50 to 60 pounds each time, stashing it in the woods, in a suitcase and coming back for it later. He also sold most of it to a scrap dealer in the Milford area.
Earlier report:
Police in Pierce Township have arrested and charged a man in a serious of dangerous thefts of heavy copper wires used for high voltage grounding.
Officers say 29 year old Joshua Fox yanked lines from Duke substations and high tension towers in Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Kenton and Campbell Counties. The damage costs thousands of dollars to repair.
Fox was caught last night in the Apple Creek Mobile Home Park on Route 125, where he was apparently living.
Police believe Fox is responsible for a theft at a Duke substation in Miami Township early Monday morning. The method of operation is the same as used when a Beckjord Station was hit last Thursday. The thief uses bolt cutters to get through the chain link fence and then cuts the ground wires or the units inside, worth $2,000 to $4,000. The damage done is estimated at around 20 thousand dollars.
While police were on site filling out their report, another theft call came in from the Ohio Valley Electric substation, right around the corner.
Laetitia Schuler, Pierce Township Police: "The workers pulled up the driveway, caught the man who's described as wearing jeans, a dark hooded sweatshirt, with the hood pulled over his head, when he saw the workers, he stood up, had a large pair of blue bolt cutters in one hand, copper in the other, they stated, you're stealing our grounds, he said no I'm not and fled on foot."
The electric workers followed the man, who they know believe to be Fox, back to the Beckjord substation, where he took off into the woods. Police officers, including a K-9 unit, then tracked him in and out of the heavily wooded terrain for nearly a mile. He flagged down a couple of passing drivers, and used their cell phones, even going to a nearby house, claiming his car had broken down. Along the way, he dropped his tools, and left behind a suitcase, loaded with copper wire.
While Fox allegedly risked electrocution, it's also a big deal for Duke, and Duke customers.
Johnna Reeder, Duke Energy: "It's a big deal for our company and a big deal for the customers. It takes time and labor to replace these pieces of copper and it's a safety issue, not only for the individuals who are stealing these items, but it's a safety issue for our customers, too."
Another Duke substation was hit in Hamlet, near 125, on Saturday.
