Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission arrests two men on copper theft charges in Deltona

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Courtesy photos VCBJ / Brian Keith Fender, 26, of DeLand, and Thomas Joseph Reynolds, 27 of DeLeon Springs, face felony and misdemeanor charges in the theft of copper near Lake George.

DELTONA -- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers patrolling Lake George Wildlife Management Area on Friday night caught a pair of Volusia County men stealing copper wire from a utility pole.

FWC officers James Yetter, Patrick Koch and Duane North were on routine patrol when they spotted a suspicious vehicle driving back and forth on Nine Mile Point Road in the public hunting area. They watched the vehicle stop and two men get out near a public utility pole.

One of the men climbed a ladder and cut the ground wire, and the two of them put the copper wire in the back of their truck.

The officers arrested Brian Keith Fender, 26, of Deland, and Thomas Joseph Reynolds, 27, of Deleon Springs.They were each charged with theft from a public utility, a first-degree felony, and trespass on a public utility pole, a first-degre misdemeanor.

Both men were booked into Volusia County Jail on $5,500 bond each. FWC impounded the truck and placed the wire in evidence. Volusia County Sheriff's Office deputies assisted the FWC officers and transported the men to the jail before they were bailed out.