BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested last week after allegedly breaking into a building and stealing a welder and other equipment.
Christopher Rodriguez, 36, of Buckhannon, was arrested for breaking and entering a non-residential structure.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Sgt. T.M. Stewart with the Buckhannon Police Department, on Dec. 5, 2023, Rodriguez allegedly entered property belonging to the City of Buckhannon and leased by West Virginia Wesleyan College on Factory Street in Buckhannon.
Rodriguez allegedly entered the building via an unsecured garage door and took a MIG, Welder, two tractor batteries and two chargers valued at $1,500, according to the report. Rodriguez then allegedly loaded the items onto a cart attached to his bicycle and left the area.
Video cameras at the Buckhannon City Hall captured images of Rodriguez with the welder on the back of the cart shortly after the incident.
Bail was set at $18,000 cash or surety by Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder.
The potential penalty for a conviction of breaking and entering a non-residence is confinement in a state penitentiary for not less than one nor more than 10 years.
