Heavy metal: Myrtle Beach cops say man stole 1,200lbs of copper from his former employer
A man is accused of stealing more than 1,000 pounds of copper from his former employer, according to a police report.
Myrtle Beach police arrested and charged Christopher Chestnut, 21, with breach of trust valued at $10,000 or more on Thursday.
Earlier this month, officers went to Waccamaw Metal Recycling on Stockholder Avenue for the reported theft. Police learned a person took copper from the property and that Chestnut, a former employee, was suspected of the theft.
A witness told police a forklift brought a pallet of copper from the property to a nearby lot, according to the report. Minutes later, a red SUV came into the lot and the copper was loaded into the vehicle.
Officers looked at video surveillance and saw Chestnut sitting on a forklift, waiting for other employees to leave. Once he was alone, he took the pallet of copper outside the building and put it near another machine.
Chestnut spoke to police and said he moved the pallet so it could be counted and forgot not to leave copper outside overnight, the report states.
After the incident, the center fired Chestnut. The shop recovered about half of the copper from the nearby lot, the report states.
Breach of trust valued at $10,000 or more is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
