FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Fayette County man is facing a grand larceny charge after deputies say they caught him red-handed with stolen copper wire along Deepwater Mountain Road on Friday evening.
According to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, Deputy G.L. Holstein was patrolling the Robson area around 5:40 p.m. on August 8 when he spotted a dark-colored Ford Focus parked on a dirt road near 12601 Deepwater Mountain Road. The driver’s side door and trunk were wide open, and a large roll of copper wire was already inside.
The deputy said the man, identified as Lawson Shaffer, was holding more copper wire in his hands before dropping it upon seeing the marked patrol car. Nearby were gardening shears believed to have been used to cut the wire, along with a metal bucket and a pile of old buckets.
Investigators determined the copper wire — stretching about 50 yards — belonged to American Electric Power (AEP). Shaffer claimed he found the wire hidden in bushes while driving in the area to “turn around” and denied cutting it.
The vehicle was towed from the scene, and AEP employees are expected to recover the stolen wire in the coming days.
Shaffer was arrested and charged with grand larceny. The investigation is ongoing.
