Two men from Butler County face felony theft charges after Northern Regional Police accused them of conspiring to steal rolls of electrical wire from the Lowe’s store in Richland Township that they sold to buy heroin.
Michael Andrew Fisher, 35, of Old Plank Road in Butler Township, was charged with felony counts of criminal trespass, retail theft and criminal conspiracy along with receiving stolen property and defiant trespass, according to court records.
Fisher is being detained in the Allegheny County Jail after failing to post 10% of a $3,000 cash bail set at his arraignment on the charges, according to court records.
Fisher faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Tom Swan on Aug. 10.
Police also charged Zachary Kent Russell, 36, of American Avenue in the City of Butler with a felony count of criminal conspiracy along with a count of retail theft. A preliminary hearing for Russell has not yet been set.
Investigators said the pair went to the store in a silver car on June 14 and Russell, who was driving, went inside and looked at the rolls of electrical wire before heading back to the vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.
Police said Fisher then went into the store pushing an empty cart and headed to the aisle where the wire is sold and placed three rolls in the cart, the complaint said.
Fisher then climbed on the shelving to get three more rolls of wire that were being stored on an upper shelf, police said.
Police said Fisher then walked past the customer service desk and out of the store without paying, according to the complaint.
Store officials told police that the stolen wire was worth $846. Fisher and Russell sold the wire for cash that they used to buy heroin, police wrote in their arrest papers.
