Fort Oglethorpe police catch rooftop burglar in the act

Tenn., was arrested Aug. 29 on charges of criminal trespassing, possession of tools for the commission of a crime, theft, and conspiracy to commit burglary.

Moore has been released from Catoosa County jail, but was extradited to Dade County after a hold was placed on him regarding an outstanding warrant.

The botched burglary attempt occurred at approximately 9 p.m. on Aug. 29, when officers were dispatched to the Rugged Wearhouse off Battlefield Parkway.

Store employees claimed someone was on the roof when no one was supposed to be.

Officer James Davis says when he arrived, he and Lt. John McGrath located a ladder leading to a hatch up to the roof where they found Moore.

“Mr. Moore stated he was working extra trying to finish a job, and was collecting copper from the building,” Davis said. “I located two spools of copper wiring and several tools Mr. Moore stated he used to gain access to the wire in the metal conduit.”

Moore tried to convince officers that he worked for a company that’d been hired to do work on the building.

He supplied officers with the name of his supervisor, but when they called to check it out, the supervisor informed police that Moore had recently been fired from the company.

“After confronting Mr. Moore with this information, he admitted he had been fired and that he intended to take the copper home where he could strip it down and scrap it,” officer Davis said.

After Moore was arrested, officers collected some of his tools as evidence and determined that the two spools of copper were valued at approximately $4,000 each.