BRADFORD COUNTY, Fla. — A call from AT&T to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office back in December 2024 prompted an investigation into what authorities called a “large-scale” copper theft investigation.
The company contacted JSO to report damaged cable wires and widespread service outages, according to a Bradford County Sheriff’s Office news release.
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“Detectives soon uncovered a pattern of copper theft involving utility poles in Duval and Bradford counties,” the release states. Through collaborative investigative efforts, including surveillance footage, tag reader data, and recovered physical evidence, law enforcement was able to identify the suspects and their vehicle — a 2006 Ford F-150."
Authorities said the suspects would cut copper wire from poles, process it and then sell it to scrap yards under false pretenses.
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Arrested were Archie Crook, James Bennett, Leslie Bennett, and Corttney Kowalski. Each were booked into the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office on one count of Theft of Copper that Interferes with Communication Services, a first degree felony, the news release states.
The suspects are accused to have caused more than $400,000 in damages across Northeast Florida, “while profiting only a fraction of that amount from scrapped copper,” the news release states.
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