AUBRN, Ind. (WOWO): Two men were arrested late Monday night for allegedly stealing copper wire from light poles along I-69 at the State Road 8 interchange in DeKalb County.
According to police, two officers were following up on a lead into a rash of copper wire thefts in and around the Fort Wayne area. As a result of their investigation, they were in the area of I-69 and State Road 8 around 10:40 p.m., when they spotted two men walking from the interchange to their truck. As the truck pulled onto the exit ramp, it stopped and both men got out and loaded something from the shoulder area of the roadway into the bed of the pickup.
The officers pulled behind the truck a few miles later after it had stopped again. After making contact with the two men, the Troopers observed 10 rolls of insulated copper wire in the bed of the truck along with wire cutters in the driver’s pant pockets.
The officers then checked the light poles at the interchange and found that the wire had been cut and removed from four of them. The estimated value of the wire is around $2,000-$3,000.
The driver, 29-year-old Ryan Self, from Chesterton and the passenger, 36-year-old Jerone Dunams, from Gary were both taken to the DeKalb County Jail on the following preliminary charge:
• Theft, Class C Felony
