Two men have been arrested for copper theft, where they would steal air conditioners and copper tubing from vacant houses.

After a concerned citizen reported that James Butler was cutting up stolen air conditioners and selling them for scrap, Investigator Jason Williams and Captain Chip Nix searched the area of Old Clay Pit and Dow Jones Roads.

James Darnell Butler, 22
180 Dow Jones Road, Bainbridge
Charged with burglary and possession of tools for the commission of crime

They discovered James Butler and Javarrus Lawrence in the front yard of 105 Dow Jones Road cutting up air conditioner copper coils.  They were using a circular saw to cut the inside coils of several air conditioner units in half.

Investigators also located the other parts to the air conditioner units in the back yard of 107 Dow Jones Road.  Both Butler and Lawrence admitted to dumping the items on the neighbor's property and Code Enforcement Officer Sgt. David Ellis was called.  Sgt Ellis arrived and issued the 2 a citation for illegal dumping.

When Captain Nix asked Butler about the A/C's, he stated the air conditioner units had came from his grandfather in Baker County.  When asked about contacting his grandfather, he said that he was dead.  A little later, his Butler's father showed  up and stated James did not have a grandfather in Baker County.

Captain Nix confronted Butler with that and James stated the window units were stolen from a house in Brinson. Investigator Williams asked Lawrence if he was involved in the burglary, and he stated yes.

Javarrus Montell Lawerence, 19
105 Dow Jones Road, Bainbridge
Charged with burglary and possession of tools for the commission of crime

James Butler then took the investigators to an abandoned house on Wainhurst Avenue in Brinson.  Crime Scene Investigators Gale Bowyer and Julian Crowder processed the Brinson house.  They discovered that the copper tubing was also cut off the hot water heater and from the back of the refrigerator.

The Decatur County Sheriff's Office asks that all citizens be vigilant of vacant houses and not to be hesitant in calling 911 to report any suspicious activity.  There have been a number of vacant houses hit with these thefts where the front door of the house is kicked in to gain entry.

In our, Alert Citizen Stops Apparent Thieves, July of 2009, James Butler was found with a trunk full of old auto parts pulling out of Bainbridge Machine on Bruton Street at about 3:30 am.