SALISBURY — Authorities charged an East Spencer man after they say he tried to steal copper from a vacant North Main Street home. A neighbor called police early Wednesday morning alerting them to the theft, which was in progress.
Salisbury Police arrested Randy Bernard McBride, 41, who was behind the house when they arrived. McBride, of Grant Street, was charged with felony possession of burglary tools and misdemeanor larceny.
Authorities received a 3:40 a.m. phone call from a homeowner who said the neighbor’s vacant home in the 1200 block of North Main Street looked to have been disturbed.
The caller saw PVC pipe on the ground, a report said. When the police arrived they found a copper tube had been cut from an air conditioning unit. McBride told police his girlfriend kicked him out and he rode his bicycle to the home where he decided to sleep.
He was searched and officers found a screwdriver, pliers and rubber gloves in his pockets. Officers noted McBride had black dirt on his hands and clothes, the same black dirt they found on a 25-foot copper tube near him.
McBride was issued a $1,500 secured bond. He has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center. McBride was previously convicted of breaking and entering and larceny. He was released from prison in May after having served time for a breaking and entering conviction in Mecklenberg County, according to the N.C. Department of Correction.