Duo arrested with 200 ft of copper cable from Duke substation | News

STATESVILLE, NC (WBTV)- Two men were arrested after a police officer caught them with stolen copper hanging out of their car, according to the Statesville Police Department.

On Wednesday, February 20, 2013, around 3:30 a.m., a Statesville Police Officer was on patrol near Simonton Road and Signal Hill Drive when he saw a suspicious vehicle parked on the side of the road with two men standing nearby.

The men told the officer they were having car trouble, but he saw a black cable running from the back seat of the car into the wooded area, the report states.

The copper cable was a 12 gauge 13-15 1000 volt control cable.

Assisting officers attempted to locate the source of where the copper cable may have been taken from, and found a trail through the woods to a Duke Power Substation off Signal Hill Drive.

Markings on the copper cable the duo had matched up to paperwork on an empty wooden spool inside the fenced in area of the substation, police said.

Both men were taken into custody and charged with the theft of over 200 feet of this cable.

The men, later identified as Paige Sharpe, 37, and Stevie Sharpe, 44, were both charged with firs degree trespassing and larceny.

Paige Sharpe was held at the Iredell County Jail on a $1,500 secured bond, and Stevie Sharpe was held on a $1,000 secured bond.

Copyright 2013 WBTV. All rights reserved.