WINNEMUCCA - Three individuals involved in the alleged theft of copper wire from Union Pacific Railroad waived their preliminary hearings in Union Township Justice Court Friday. The three - Leroy Nesmith, Marci Sorensen and Daryl Theis - will be arraigned in Sixth District Court.
The scrap value of the copper was estimated at $600. The cost to the railroad to restring the wire is about $30,000, Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Jason Dworin said.
Humboldt County sheriff's deputies were dispatched June 11 to the railroad tracks in a remote area near the Hycroft Mine to meet with a railroad employee. The railroad had received an alarm that wire had been cut along the tracks in that area, causing a delay in train traffic, according to court documents.
Some of the wire was found rolled up along the track and a pickup truck was nearby.
Deputies later saw the suspect vehicle going in the opposite direction on Jungo Road and followed the truck to the Hycroft Mine parking lot. They saw rolls of copper wire in the bed of the truck, which were identified by a Union Pacific employee as belonging to the railroad. They also saw a ladder and a 6-foot pole with a wire-cutting device attached to one end, court documents show.
One of the suspects allegedly told the deputy they took the wire off poles that were on the ground.
The suspects were arrested on suspicion of destruction of railway track or equipment, theft and possession of stolen property.
[[In-content Ad]]
