Copper stolen from 3 towers

By Bayne Hughes
hughes@decaturdaily.com · 340-2432

ATHENS — The Limestone County Sheriff's Department is trying to figure out if the thefts of copper grounding bars from three cell phone towers are connected.

Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt said someone climbed a Verizon Wireless tower between Aug. 2 and Monday and took four flat copper bars with an estimated value of $2,000 each.

He said the grounding bars are 4 inches wide, 24 inches long and one-half inch thick and were about 20 feet high on the tower.

Similar incidents

In incident reports from Monday and Tuesday, Athens police recorded two such thefts in the city.

Someone stole four copper bars from the Verizon Wireless tower on 208 Commercial Drive between Aug. 31 and Friday.

Between Sept. 3 and Monday, someone stole one copper bar from a tower at 14022 Alabama 251.

McNatt said these are the first such incidents in the area but he has heard of similar thefts in the Birmingham area.

"We'll definitely be talking to Athens investigators to figure out if there's a connection," McNatt said.

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