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Task force leads to arrest in rash of copper theftsBy JO CIAVAGLIASTAFF WRITER ,A Bristol Township man and a Falls woman reportedly confessed to stealing more than $2,000 in copperwiring from a PECO substation, leaving behind more than double that amount inThe arrests are the latest in a rash of copper theftsfrom at least five PECO properties in Lower Bucks County that resulted in the loss of thousands of dollars in copper and, often, tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Police now believe a theft ring was responsible.Jason Pallis and Jamie Lynn Brown, both 29, were arrested by Middletown police in the theft of the copper wire from PECO’s Durham substation at Oxford • Valley and New Falls roads on Nov. 19. They were arraigned Thursday before Middletown District Judge John Kelly Jr. on charges of criminal trespassing, theft, criminal mischief, reckless endangering another person, and related offenses. Both I were released on $25,000unsecured bailPolice say that the pair used bolt cutters to enter the fenced-in yard and then removed copper ground wire from an underground gravel bed, causing morethan $5,000 in propertydamage. The wiring was in place to ground the electricalsystem and prevent PECOemployees and others from electrocution. The removal of that wiring system placed numerous PECO employees at risk of death or serious injury.| Pallis was also arraignedtyefore Penn del District Judge Daniel Baranoski Thursday on multiplecounts ol burglary, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief in connections with a copper theft at the Durham Ridge construction site on Durham Road in Middletown last November.Pallis told police he and an accomplice stole copper wiring at least twice between November andDecember last year in the housing construction site.He recalled because he had fallen inio a basement underconstruction and hurt his back, according to police.Late last year, P0EO experienced numerous thefts at nearby substations, resulting in the formation of a Bucks County Task . Force of police departmentsin municipalities where thellifcWjMFjhrDuring the course ofMiddletown's investigation,a Bristol lownship police officer spoke with Pallis and Brown, who confessed their involvement in the thefts, including the Durham substation one, according to a probable cause affidavit The pair said they usedcellphones during the thefts to warn each other if police were nearby and to arrange arendezvous point afterward,according to police. The arrests are the first in the copper capers since Bristol Township charged a Bristol Township man in November with causing more than $10,000 in damage to a power station in the 7100 block of Mill Creek Road.Jo Ciavaglia 215-949-4181; email jciavaglta® phillyBurbs com; Twitter: ft jociavaglia; To subscribe, go to phillyburbs com/orderlntel
Newspaper Details
Doylestown Intelligencer
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, US
Sun, Feb 24, 2013
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Oil R.
PA, USA 18 Dec 2018
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