John Anthony Leach, 52, and Andrew Howard Underwood, 63, both of De Soto, have been charged for allegedly cutting down AT&T wire south of De Soto, court records show.
Leach and Underwood on Aug. 27 were both charged with stealing, a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to court documents.
As of Sept. 7, the two were being held at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro. Leach was being held on a $25,000 bond, and Underwood was being held without bond, court records said.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called at about 2:20 a.m. Aug. 27 to the 13800 block of Hwy. E south of De Soto. A man had called authorities after seeing a ladder against a utility pole the day before and seeing someone who appeared to try to be hiding the morning deputies responded to the area, according to the case’s probable-cause statement.
Deputies found Leach and Underwood near the highway, and both men were holding flashlights, the report said.
Leach allegedly had black stains on his shirt and hands that appeared to match the covering around the wire. Underwood threw wire cutters down when deputies arrived, according to the report.
Deputies allegedly found approximately 100 feet of wire about 3 feet away from the men. Investigators confirmed the wire belonged to AT&T, which had not been notified about a distribution in service at that time, the report said.
An estimated value for the wire or cost to repair the damage was not reported.