BUCKHANNON – A Barbour County man was arrested for allegedly entering a building on Little Sand Run Road and stealing copper wiring.
Nathanael Cragle, 28, of Volga, was recently arrested for entry of a building other than a dwelling, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor, and destruction of property, also a misdemeanor.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Chief Deputy Mike Coffman with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, Coffman observed Cragle allegedly leaving a building and climbing across a nearby gate to exit a property located in the 400 block of Little Sand Run Road. The property is owned by George Roessing Jr., according to the report.
The file says Cragle allegedly had bolt cutters and several feet of rolled up copper wire he had removed from the building. Cragle told Coffman he did not have permission from the property owner to enter or take any items from the building. According to the report, Cragle allegedly confessed he was going to burn the insulation off the cable and sell it for money to a local salvage yard.
Cragle had a trash bag of paper to start a fire to remove the rubber coating. According to the report, Cragle entered the building through a small opening on the north end of the building and exited the building through a set of locked doors on the south side of the building. Cragle allegedly destroyed the wiring in the building by “cutting wire into pieces away from the building,” Coffman wrote in the complaint.
The wire has a value of less than $1,000.
Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail at $30,000 cash or surety.
The potential penalty for a conviction of entry of a building other than a dwelling, the felony, is imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than 10 years.
