KXO RADIO - El Centro copper thief behind bars

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Todays is : Sunday, 23 November 2008

Written by George Gale
Thursday, 28 August 2008
(El Centro Police arrest a suspected copper thieve)…..Sergeant Jeff Mason says officers had to chase him down first, however. Officer Efren Coronel spotted the suspect at around 2:00 Wednesday afternoon. He was walking near 8^th and Broadway and was carrying a spool of copper wire. Once the suspect saw the officer, he took off running. The man, later identified as 43-year-old James Bruce Dillard, dropped the spool as he ran. Coronel found Dillard hiding behind a dumpster in the 100 block of North 9^th Street. With of Officer Jesus Gonzalez, Coronel placed the suspect under arrest. Mason said an investigation into the incident determined Dillard had stolen the copper wire spool from a truck belonging to Tom Watson, Incorporated, Electrical Contractor. The truck had been parked at 8^th and Broadway at the time. The wire weighed 22 pounds. The Sergeant said it was valued at $500.00. Dillard was booked into County Jail on charges of theft with a prior conviction and delaying a peace officer. He is also being held on a parole violation. Mason says copper thefts are starting to pick-up again in El Centro.