Police accuse a 37-year-old man of bringing an excavator to a work site in Moscow and digging up and making off with ground wire and a large amount of copper.

Alex Stanley, of Tomhegan Township in Somerset County, was arrested Monday on charges of Class B theft by unauthorized taking or transfer; Class C burglary; and Class C aggravated criminal mischief, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said in a statement Thursday.

Investigators were able to connect Stanley to the theft, which was reported June 8, Lancaster said.

That day, Sgt. Ritchie Putnam responded to the theft report at Cianbro Corp.’s work site off Stream Road in Moscow, Lancaster said. 

Putnam learned a Cianbro building and storage area had been apparently broken into, Lancaster said. Police also determined someone had brought an excavator to the site.

“The excavator was utilized to dig up ground wire from a wind tower station,” Lancaster said. “The ground wire and large amounts of copper were stolen. Building doors were damaged and fences were damaged.”

Other storage areas and buildings also had been damaged, the sheriff said.

The total estimated value of the items stolen and cost to repair damages is approximately $200,000, Lancaster said.

Cianbro security staff worked with the sheriff’s office to identify a vehicle and a suspect. On Monday, Sgt. William Crawford IV responded to the work site again for “potential activity,” Lancaster said. Additional information wasn’t immediately available about what happened next, but authorities said Crawford ultimately arrested Stanley.

Stanley was booked at the Somerset County Jail in Madison and posted $2,500 cash bail, with the condition that he not return to Cianbro’s site in Moscow, according to Lancaster. He is due back in court for an initial appearance Oct. 7 in Skowhegan.

Court filings do not list an attorney for Stanley. As the charges are felony-level, prosecutors must first take the case to a grand jury to seek an indictment for the case to proceed. The district attorney’s office is reviewing the case, Lancaster said.