Two Arrested After 10-Month Copper Theft Ring Investigation in Pensacola

Pensacola, FL (NewsRadio 92.3) -- Two people are facing charges after a ten-month investigation into a copper theft ring that stripped light poles on bridges and along local interstates. Pensacola Police say thirty-seven-year-old David Nielsen and thirty-one-year-old Rae Ann Horne stole roughly two-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars worth of copper — about a hundred-thousand feet in total. Nielsen jumped into Bayou Chico to evade arrest before being caught by F-W-C and P-P-D SWAT. Police say the theft is why lights on the Barrancas bridge over Bayou Chico have been out for months. Additional arrests are expected.