DeLand man sold 6,000 pounds of stolen wire, deputies say

$3,700 worth of wire of stolen from Duke Energy, cops say

DELAND, Fla. – A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday after an investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, on 12 criminal charges.

Jarrod Briggs was arrested after he traveled to a DeLand recycling center to sell a major lead wire, which was the sixth time in two weeks, according to deputies.

After authorities were alerted due to suspicious transactions, it turned out that the wire is being investigated as stolen, according to a Volusia County Sheriff's Office news release.

Briggs is being charged for six counts of dealing in stolen property and six of violating Florida's secondary metals recyclers law by falsely claiming to own the wire.

Starting on Sept. 11, Briggs brought six large loads of wire to the recycling business in the back of a pickup truck. He brought his last load on Tuesday, where it was totaled that all the combined loads equaled 6,179 pounds and brought in Briggs $3,770.

Deputies checked with Duke Energy, showing them pictures of the scrapped wire. It was recognized as a commercial-grade wire used for power poles, which they said they were the only power company in the area that used that specific type of wire. A substation was then checked by company officials and was found to be missing several thousand pounds of the wire.

When questioned, Briggs claimed he was scrapping the wire for a friend who couldn't sell it himself because his wallet and identification had been stolen. The friend provided a $50 for each transaction.

Deputies are checking into his story for further investigation.


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