Three individuals have been slapped with felony charges after a vigilant resident's tip-off led to the thwarting of a copper wire heist in Plano, authorities said. On December 3, officers descended on the 3400 block of Garner Lane around 11 a.m. following a report of an ongoing theft, according to the Plano Texas Police Department.

The police found a lone black GMC pickup without identifiers, surrounded by a ladder, tools, and sections of copper wire stripped from cable lines, littering the alley alongside the roadway with three men close in proximity. The responding party had informed dispatchers about witnessing the possible crime, also bringing attention to the string of similar incidents in the neighborhood. With the narratives of each suspect not matching up, and by confirming with Frontier that no official work was scheduled in the area, the trio's fate was soon sealed.

The Plano authority's praise was levied upon the officers for their "extremely thorough investigative police work" that led to the arrests on charges of Felony theft of copper. Additional charges for the crew members included Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance and Failure to Identify after they tried to mislead law enforcement with fake IDs. A Frontier representative assessed that the theft had punched a whopping $10,000 hole in their pockets for the replacement cost of the stolen copper wiring, as per the Plano Texas Police Department.

In a nod to the community's key role in crime prevention, the Plano Police statement emphasized the importance of public vigilance, "Thank you to the Plano resident who saw something that appeared suspicious and called the police!" The post also requested locals to report sightings of the suspect truck, particularly near cable wires, in light of the recent surge in copper wire thefts, per the Plano Texas Police Department.