Man Steals Power Pole Copper Wire To Pay For Court Ordered Monitoring

January 25, 2012

A Cantonment man is charged with cutting copper wire off utility poles so, he said, he could pay for the court ordered ankle monitor he was ordered to wear in another felony case.

Todd Eugene Caine, 48, was charged with larceny taking copper or other metal damaging utilities. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

Deputies responded Sunday afternoon to the area of West Roberts and Stefani roads after someone reported a suspicious person who was cutting copper wires off power poles. At the intersection, the responding deputy watched as Caine threw down a bundle of wire and continued walking, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

According to the report, Caine told the deputy that “he did not have a job and was in need of money to pay for his ankle monitoring system, and therefore was cutting the copper ground wires of power poles”.

Caine had a large pocket knife and a pair of wire cutters in his possession.

According to court records, Caine was ordered by Judge John Simon to wear an active ankle GPS monitor as part of his release as he awaits trial in a felony battery case.

Comments

11 Responses to “Man Steals Power Pole Copper Wire To Pay For Court Ordered Monitoring”

  1. Well on January 27th, 2012 1:26 pm

    What good was the ankle monitor doing????

  2. Char on January 26th, 2012 1:47 pm

    Bama 54 said it right.
    The power company is not the only company that hooks to those wires,
    and people probably started immediately having trouble with their phones
    also, and then there was man hours tracking down the troubles before
    things like this get reported. Even Cable TV hooks up to those wires.
    Some people have to learn over and over, and then there are those
    who never learn.

    Very Sad indeed, but I am for him paying back all the money involved,
    rather than be just incarcerated. Time this career criminal learns to
    work and pay his debts. I would buy a mower and mow lawns before
    I did this, or I would have a car wash, etc, etc, etc. It is time the
    criminals learn to think of something else instead of robbery.

    If we need roads bring back chain gangs.

  3. Jane on January 25th, 2012 7:19 pm

    As the comedian says; “Here’s your sign”.

  4. MM on January 25th, 2012 11:11 am

    Somewhat entrepreneurial spirit, but illegal and non-productive. Thou shalt not steal copper.

  5. Darko Sladovic on January 25th, 2012 10:53 am

    This guy is not very bright!

    Well….he would have been if he touched the transformer.

  6. JoJo Jones on January 25th, 2012 10:53 am

    Now he won’t have to wear that ankle monitor anymore.

  7. Diane Ritchie on January 25th, 2012 10:16 am

    stupid is – as stupid does !!! Wow!

  8. Bama54 on January 25th, 2012 7:57 am

    Well guess who gets to pay for the replacement of the grounds on the power poles? The Gulf Power customers. This dumb act will cost you in more ways than you realize. When Gulf Pwr replaces the copper on the poles they normally replace the ground rods, the contractor doing the work calls in a locate ticket, and all the utilities companies respond to locate their cables, gas lines, and water lines…etc. This cost is passed down to the customer (home/cell phone, water, gas, sewer). Plus, they will put him in jail and we then have to feed him. Hope you get the overall picture!!

  9. Albert on January 25th, 2012 7:01 am

    If he was wearing an ankle monitor then it shouldn’t be to hard to place him at the seen of the other copper thefts.

  10. B.Bunny on January 25th, 2012 5:54 am

    And that helped in so many ways because the end result was the same. No pay-jail. Steal-jail! Another fine example of you can’t fix stupid

  11. Huh? on January 25th, 2012 2:04 am

    This has to make it to America’s Dumbest Criminals…….
    Well, at least he’ll eat now…….