CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville man will stand trial for stealing phone wire and causing over $35,000 of damage to the owner’s system.
Damion Scott McGary, 31, was charged by state police with felony counts of disruption of service, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief, receiving stolen property and theft of secondary metal in connection to his actions in Pike Township on Dec. 21.
He waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court sending the case on to the court of common pleas for further disposition. He is being held in the county jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.
The criminal complaint details how police were contacted about 7:50 a.m. on Dec. 21 regarding the theft of the wire. Troopers were able to follow the tracks of an all terrain vehicle in the snow away from the site of the crime. These tracks led to a spot where the marks in the snow indicated the ATV was loaded onto a vehicle. This vehicle then traveled south on Rustic Road, turned east on Windy Hill Road then disappeared on Meadow Street due to the roadway being freshly plowed.
Surveillance footage from a business on Filbert Street near Meadow Street reportedly showed a white truck with an ATV in the bed that passed the business and turned into a nearby driveway at 6:58 a.m.
Later that day, McGary was taken into custody on a warrant. He agreed to talk to police and admitted to taking the phone wire. He sold it for scrap at a Bradford Township business, according to the affidavit.
A search warrant was executed on the business where the receipts of the sale and the copper were located.
The cost to replace and repair the wiring was estimated to be $35,513.36, according to the report.
