Six of seven men charged in copper wire theft heading to trial
Six of the seven men accused of stealing more than 13,000 pounds of copper wiring from telephone poles before selling the metal to scrap yards in Washington County and two neighboring states earlier this year for about $57,000 are heading to trial on theft and other charges.
Ryan Michael Scott, 37, of Avella; Dennis John Kinkela, 49, of Burgettstown; Donald Edward Martin III, 36, of Bulger; Michael Douglas Hancher, 45, of Washington; Lawrence Angelo Bogo Jr., 56, of Avella; and Justin Lee Fusarelli, 43, of Avella, appeared Thursday morning before District Judge Gary Havelka and waived all charges to court.
State police said Scott was the ringleader of the operation and visited numerous scrapyards in Washington County, West Virginia and Ohio nearly three dozen times from January through early April. Investigators said he stole 11,737 pounds of copper wiring hanging from utility lines used by Verizon communications, and sold the precious metal for more than $50,000 before he was arrested April 27 following a police pursuit.
Police said Kinkela sold 1,112 pounds of wiring worth $5,167 and Martin had 568 pounds of copper that he sold for $2,103 during the timespan of the thefts. The thefts occurred across Washington County, including numerous locations in Jefferson, North Franklin, Smith and Hanover townships, according to court documents.
State police charged the men Aug. 10 with multiple felony counts of theft and criminal mischief, and they are being held at the Washington County jail after failing to post varying cash bonds. Allen Cecil Jackson, 28, of Wellsburg, W.Va., was also charged in the scheme, but was arrested in his home state and is still awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania while being held at the Northern Regional Jail in Marshall County.