Copper tubing thief caught
A Wisconsin man is out of jail on bond after being arrested for stealing copper tubing from a U.P. hunting camp.
The Iron County Sheriff’s Department says he is 53-year-old Ronald J. Woodworth of Green Bay. He’s charged with larceny, malicious destruction of property and receiving/concealing stolen property. Woodworth has been arraigned in the Iron County Trial Court and has his next court appearance on October 21st.
The Sheriff’s Department says they got a call this past Wednesday, October 9th, from a hunting camp near Porter Lake in Hematite Township. The owner said that more than 80 feet of copper tubing had been stolen from his camp while he was away on an errand. The tubing was part of the camp’s propane heating system. The camp owner said he’d seen someone riding a four-wheeler near his camp and provided a description of that person.
Sheriff’s deputies and the Michigan DNR Law Enforcement Division launched a joint investigation. They identified Woodworth as the suspect; he owns a camp on Cable Lake in Hematite Township. Police found him at his camp and arrested him there without incident.
The Sheriff’s Department says additional charges against Woodworth are expected involving other camps in the Cable Lake area.