Three People Arrested Following Copper Theft Early Tuesday

Photo taken by Jeff Motz/KFOR News.

Jeffrey Smith (Courtesy of Lincoln Police)

Jason Romano (Courtesy of Lincoln Police)

Candice Craig (Courtesy of Lincoln Police)

LINCOLN–(KFOR Mar. 23)–Lincoln Police early Tuesday morning were able to arrest three people, after reports of some people trying to steal copper wiring from an outside air-conditioning unit at a north Lincoln business.

Captain Todd Kocian says it happened outside of Prairie Mechanical Corporation at 5900 North 58th Street, Suite 6. A neighboring business owner got an alert from his Ring doorbell and saw two parties near the AC unit and heard cutting sounds before he called police.

Kocian says the owner saw items from the AC unit being loaded into a pickup truck, before it left as officers were arriving. A traffic stop was made, where 41-year-old Jeffrey Smith and 34-year-old Candice Craig, both of Lincoln, along with 36-year-old Jason Romano were contacted.

In the bed of the pickup officers located AC condenser coils along with several tools used to aid in its removal. All three parties were arrested for theft by unlawful taking and possession of burglars tools. In addition, Smith was also arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Damage to A/C unit estimated at $2,500 and the loss of coil and copper pipe estimated at $500.