8 Arrested in Copper Theft Ring

The Stafford County grand jury has indicted eight area residents in relation to the theft of more than 1,500 feet of copper wire worth an estimated $350,000. 

The copper was first reported stolen on Friday, May 13, 2011 by employees at the Ennstone Aggregate Plant on Kings Highway. According to police, the facility was in the process of re-opening after being closed for several months when the employees discovered that four copper wire bundles had been stolen. The wires deliver power to the plant's large conveyor belts. The theft of the wires caused an estimated $1.2 million in damages to the plant. 

Shortly after, detectives with the Stafford County Sheriff's Office conducted surveillance on the plant in a bid to catch the suspects red handed. Their watchful patience paid off on Thursday, May 19, when the detectives caught 20-year-old Fredericksburg resident Derek Smith entering the plant after hours. Smith was charged with possession of burglary tools and unlawful entry. Smith's arrest led police on a two month investigation which implicated seven other people charged in the indictment. 

"The surveillance of this plant was instrumental to charging these eight individuals," said Stafford County Sheriff Charles Jett in a press release. "The Stafford County Sheriff's Office routinely checks and provides surveillance to a number of plants and businesses in Stafford County."

The investigation netted the arrests of Stafford resident Johnnie Ray Elliott, age 39, Fredericksburg resident Robert Neil Adlon, age 40, homeless resident Wyatt Smith Rosenberger, age 44, Spotsylvania resident Bryan Daniel Phillips, age 29, Fredericksburg resident Marline Page Williams, age 50, Fredericksburg resident Derek William Smith, age 20, Fredericksburg resident Brandon Lane McBroom, age 21, and Ruther Glen resident Michael Robert Goddard, age 20, have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit a felony, five counts of grand larceny, five counts of larceny with intent to sell and five counts of destruction of property.  Elliot, Adlon, Rosenberger and Williams are already incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail on unrelated charges.