At 3:30 pm on Thursday, while on patrol in the Sockeye fire area, troopers received a report of copper theft from burned structures near mile 74 of the Parks Highway.

Upon receiving the report, troopers with the Criminal Suppression Unit and the Special Crimes Investigation Unit, opened an investigation. The resulting investigation identified a suspect in the theft.

Troopers contacted a 30-year-old male, who they did not identify as yet, in Talkeetna at 7:05 pm. As their investigation continued, troopers determined that the suspect had illegally entered two different properties, one at mile 74 of the Parks Highway and one off of Polis Circle. Both of the properties had been destroyed in the Sockeye Fire.

While on the properties on Wednesday and Thursday, the unidentified suspect stole copper worth between $400 and $500.

The suspect was charged with two counts of Criminal Trespass I and Theft III. Charges were forwarded to the Palmer District Attorney’s office for their review.

  copper, parks highway, polis circle, suspect, telkeetna, theft