[Top of the Rock] Dekalb tower theft

[waldo@gwinnettcarpet.com]

Copied from the Scan Atlanta email forum on yahoogroups
I love it when they catch the bad guys
criminal darwinism at its best here folks

Message: 12
  Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 09:06:38 -0500 (EST)
  From: earl.barfield at oit.gatech.edu
Subject: DeKalb radio tower vandalized

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2005/11/19/news/news05.txt


Three charged with stealing parts of radio tower
Updated Friday, November 18, 2005

LEE - Three men were charged Thursday with stealing parts from a radio
communications tower leased by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.

Chief Deputy Kevin Hickey said the owner of the tower in the 14000
block of Tower Road was visiting the site around 11 a.m. and saw the
men up on the 240-foot structure cutting off copper parts called wave
guides.

"What these scavengers do is cut off the copper because it's valuable
and they can sell it at a salvage yard," Hickey said.

He said the owner called police, and when deputies arrived, the three
men said they were contracted to do work on the tower.

"What they didn't know was that the owner was standing right there,"
Hickey said. "So we basically blew their alibi right out of the water.
Another twist is that we are the tenants on that tower. We lease it
for our radio communications. Of all the towers to pick, they chose
one of ours."

Hickey said the thieves also had stolen parts from the tower the night
before, but deputies were able to recover "quite a bit" of copper,
some of which had already been sold to salvage dealers. He said it was
not the first time police have had to deal with people scavenging
metal from such towers.

"This particular tower was already victimized early this year," Hickey
said.

He said the tower is still functional.

Charles L. Raikes, 72, of Marseilles, Jason C. Nelson, 29, of Seneca
and Craig A. Hill, 33, of Greenville, Texas, were charged with felony
theft and criminal damage to property.

Additional charges may be pending, including a possible federal charge
for criminal damage to public safety communications equipment.

Police believe the men also may have targeted other towers outside the
county, Hickey said. Investigators are contacting agencies in those
areas to find out if similar incidents have been reported.

All three men are being held at DeKalb County Jail.



--
Earl Barfield  --  Academic & Research Technologies / Information Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
Internet: Earl.Barfield at oit.gatech.edu    earl at mail.gatech.edu