Pair arrested on charges of copper theft at old Gander Mountain site
A man and a woman were arrested on felony charges Wednesday in connection with the old Gander Mountain building copper theft that occurred earlier this month, according to a Texarkana, Texas, Police Department Facebook page post.
Richard Jenkins, 49, and Brandy Gossett, 34, were arrested on theft of material (less than $20,000) charges, a state jail felony, according to the post.
“You might remember a few weeks ago that we told you about someone stealing several copper coils from the air conditioning units and piping on the roof of the old Gander Mountain building. Well, thanks to a tip that we received from that post, Detective Cody Harris was able to solve the case and made two arrests …” the post states.
The post appeared Thursday and the arrests were made Wednesday.
Harris identified the two suspects after someone reported seeing a green GMC Jimmy with two people in it leaving the area about two weeks before.
“Using that information as a starting point, he (Harris) was able to locate a similar vehicle on video at a local scrap metal business about 30 minutes after the witness said they’d seen the vehicle leaving Gander Mountain. Checking the transaction
records, there showed that Jenkins had sold 187 pounds of A/C coils—an amount that was almost exactly the amount estimated to have been stolen from Gander
Mountain,” the post states.
The detective continued to dig and then found that the green GMC Jimmy had been used during several transactions to sell cooper at the scrap metal business.
“One of those from a few days before where 82 pounds of copper pipe that was very similar to the piping taken from Gander
Mountain was sold by Gossett and Jenkins,” the post states.
“Detective Harris did an outstanding job tracking down all the leads on this case. However, he was quick to say that he is very thankful for the tip from Facebook that gave him a starting point from which to work—adding that without that one little
piece of information, the case may have not been solved and those responsible arrested,” the post states.
Both Jenkins and Gossett are being held in the Bi-State Jail on $10,000 bonds. Jenkins was also arested on an outstanding parole violation warrant charge.