Century Man Gets Two Years For Ripping Copper Wire From Power Poles

April 18, 2013

A Century man  arrested for ripping copper grounding wires from power poles in Walnut Hill has was sentenced to prison this week.

Leland David Kite, Jr., 44, of Jefferson Avenue, pleaded guilty to criminal mischief  and violating driver’s license restrictions. He was sentenced by Judge Joel Boles to two years in state prison, with credit for 144 days he had already been jailed. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to Escambia River Electric Cooperative.

Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies were patrolling in an unmarked vehicle in the area of Pine Forest Road and Pelt Road on November 20, 2012, when they reported finding Kite’s pickup blacked out beside the road.

When deputies questioned Kite, they reported that he appeared very nervous and was sweating heavily. In plain view in the back of his pickup, deputies observed a large cooler and a five gallon bucket containing copper wire. Kite told deputies that the copper wire was from a job site where he worked. Deputies discovered that was not the case.

In Kite’s truck, deputies reported finding a hammer, pliers and gloves by the gas pedal, and in his pocket they found small pieces of copper wire and a large staple. Deputies also discovered that ground wires had been cut and ripped from at least 10 power poles in the area. The wire and staples from the poles matched those in Kite’s truck and pocket, according to an arrest report.

At the time of his arrest, Kite’s driver’s license was restricted to business purposes only and was not valid.

Comments

8 Responses to “Century Man Gets Two Years For Ripping Copper Wire From Power Poles”

  1. Rasied to know better on April 19th, 2013 12:24 pm

    His mom and dad rasied him in church . I know that for a fact , times are hard but Rasied to know better. WOW ! WOW!

  2. mick on April 19th, 2013 9:30 am

    maybe with a little irony he’ll have to scrub the copper bottom pots in the mess hall while he contemplates his bad decisions in prison…

  3. Sam on April 19th, 2013 7:13 am

    With his history, in a year or so the co op would be money ahead to just hire the guy and give him a little copper. The justice system sure wont do anything.

  4. David Huie Green on April 18th, 2013 7:35 pm

    46 run-ins with the law?

    At some point it is no longer his fault, the joke’s on us.

    David contemplating
    petty career criminals

  5. Kite on April 18th, 2013 5:07 pm

    I’m his son, this ain’t nothing new, times are tough, no doubt, but he is where he needs to be obviously. I think he should of hot more time…

  6. Ben Thar on April 18th, 2013 4:06 pm

    I don’t know if that driver’s license restriction (restricted to business purposes only) applies. It sounds like stealing copper was his business.

  7. LEO GUY on April 18th, 2013 8:47 am

    What do people expect? Times are tough. The price of cold beer and cigarettes are going up all the time. :-/

  8. Henry Coe on April 18th, 2013 6:46 am

    Cutting ground wire’s puts peoples lives at risk and creates a risk for fires. I’m not sure that two years was enough time.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News