August 22, 2008
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

MAN CHARGED WITH STEALING COPPER FROM DOWNED POWER LINE 

A 47-year-old man saw a power line felled Thursday night by Tropical Storm Fay as an opportunity to make some money. The caper, however, landed the man in jail on a charge of petty theft. 

Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Ronald Maihle after a resident in his neighborhood north of Ormond Beach saw the man cut about 20 feet of copper wire from a downed line and take it back to his house on Coquina Avenue. When a utility employee from Florida Power & Light showed up to fix the line, a resident told the employee about the stolen wire. The employee went to Maihle’s house to ask for the wire back, but Maihle refused even after being told that he was delaying FPL from being able to fix the wire and restore power to the neighborhood. That’s when the Sheriff’s Office was called in. 

Deputies went to Maihle’s house and arrested him at about 8 p.m. after he admitted taking the wire. Deputies retrieved the stolen wire from Maihle, who said he planned to sell the copper to help pay for the cost of running his generator during the power outage. Maihle was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach at 9:40 p.m. and has since been released after posting a $500 bond.