Jail time and restitution in power line copper theft - WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

Jail time and restitution in power line copper theft

Posted:
By Keith Edwards - bio | email

Polk County (WQOW) - A western Wisconsin man is sentenced Friday for actions that officials say put the public and himself at risk.

Daniel Swessel, of Barron, was charged last summer with using bolt cutters to cut the grounding wires off of eight power poles in Polk County. Detectives say he then sold the valuable copper wire to scrap yards.

The power company said the resulting stray voltage was a significant hazard to the public and to workers. And it said the damage would have likely caused a major outage if a thunderstorm occurred. 

Swessel got four months in jail and was ordered to pay for the damage.

Powered by WorldNow
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WQOW. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Persons with disabilities who need assistance with issues relating to the content of this station's pubic inspection file should contact Director of Station Operations Lisa Patrow at 715-852-5920. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, at 888-835-5322 (TTY) or at fccinfo@fcc.gov.