From staff reports
A Utica man is facing charges for stealing copper wire and brass from a Central Electric substation in Mineral Township.
Franklin state police said in a criminal complaint that on Jan. 26, a man later identified as Steven Webber, 44, cut and removed several pieces of copper wire at Central Electric’s Henderson Station Road substation.
Webber then cut the padlock on a building at the substation and entered it, then he cut a 480-volt electrical line that caused a substantial interruption of services to Central Electric and its customers, the complaint said.
Still photos from security footage were sent to law enforcement and media outlets in an effort to identify Webber, and on Feb. 2 an employee at R.K. Virgile’s Scrap Metals recognized Webber from the photographs, according to the complaint.
Webber was charged with felony counts of burglary-not adapted to overnight accommodation, no person present, criminal trespass-break into structure and criminal mischief-damage property, and misdemeanor counts of defiant trespass, theft of secondary medals, theft by unlawful taking-movable property and receiving stolen property.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled today in Venango County Central Court.
