Cantonment Man Charged With Cutting And Stealing AT&T Phone Cables From Poles

March 17, 2023

A Cantonment man is accused of cutting down AT&T telephone cables, leaving customers without service and causing thousands of dollars in damage.

Levy Brian Dixon, 42, was charged with theft of copper from a communications services provider, damage of utility fixtures, and grand theft. All of the charges are felonies. He remained in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $15,000.

On March 10, a deputy working at Lipscomb Elementary School on Ashton Brosnaham Drive responded to a suspicious vehicle parked in the woods northwest of the school. The deputy noted that it contained numerous wire cutting tools and a ladder.

Dixon walked out of the woods and told the deputy that the Jeep belonged to him. According to an arrest report, Dixon said he had been exploring in the woods. He told an investigator that the cutting tools and ladder were his, but he knew nothing about wire in the vehicle. Pictures were sent to an AT&T representative that the wire was consistent with AT&T wire that had been stolen.

The investigator walked into the wooded area that Dixon had exited and located three disassembled automotive radiators, about 25 feet of insulated copper wire, a cooler full of metal link chain, tire tools and an agricultural plow.

According to the report, Dixon had sold 73 pounds of copper and catalytic converters in February.

A search warrant was executed at Dixon’s home on Frank Ard Road. Deputies reported finding 150 feet of Superior 2×22 phone wire, 200 feet of insulated #2 1-inch paired phone cable, 30 feet of 600 volt FPL aluminum SE cable, 25 feet of 100 amp insulated aluminum wire and one XS100 highline cable pulley. AT&T identified the items as belonging to them.

On March 13, AT&T reported that customers in the area of Tate Road and Highway 29 were without service. AT&T said one of their telephone lines on the west side of Tate Road had been stolen from between wooden poles. Approximately 150 feet of “300 pair” aerial cable, capable of providing service to 300 phone lines, was missing. It was estimated that repairs would cost $3,000. Another aerial drop cable was cut with a replacement cost of $1,000, and another “300 pair” cable near 772 Tate Road was cut but not stolen.

A silver Jeep SUV was captured on nearby surveillance video during the theft.

Comments

9 Responses to “Cantonment Man Charged With Cutting And Stealing AT&T Phone Cables From Poles”

  1. TB on March 20th, 2023 9:59 am

    And people feel sorry for drug dealers and get mad at the Police when they get caught, this is one of their customers, look what happened to him.

  2. E.M.Ployed on March 19th, 2023 10:25 pm

    By stealing phone lines this man could be responsible for anothers death if they needed 911 and were unable to dial for assistance.

  3. T.H. on March 18th, 2023 6:13 pm

    I have no idea what he would’ve wanted the copper for!!

  4. bob c on March 17th, 2023 3:49 pm

    Mr. Dixon looks like he’s at the end of his rope.
    Sad he had to resort to this thievery.
    Just when we feel life is hard, along comes a Mr. Dixon to remind us how good we have it.

  5. Bewildered on March 17th, 2023 12:05 pm

    He looks absolutely pitiful. Don’t Junk yards wonder why so many people decide to take converters off their vehicles – or do thieves disassemble them and make them unrecognizable?

  6. Bill T on March 17th, 2023 9:21 am

    Sad that you have to steal others stuff unfortunately it happens and this is a prime example of why people steal !!! Some people just don’t care or have mental issues or bad upbringing !!!! This case looks like a person that wants money and don’t want to work for it I don’t know !!!!!!

  7. Good grief! on March 17th, 2023 8:32 am

    A thief and a liar but I guess those go hand in hand.

  8. CONCERNED on March 17th, 2023 8:32 am

    SOME PEOPLE WORK HARDER AT GETTING OUT OF WORK THAN IF THEY WOULD JUST WORK IN THE FIRST PLACE…AIN’T WORTH HITTING IN THE HEAD

  9. W. Ward on March 17th, 2023 5:58 am

    I guess the thievery profession has changed over the years. The whole idea of being a thief is to get something for nothing. Used to be if you made a thief work for what they were trying to steal they wouldn’t put forth effort. But not this clown. The thought of going to work & working as hard at a job as he is stealing wire must have just passed right between his ears. Apparently he has an IQ between plant life & a rock.