A man has been arrested and charged in Grayson County with stealing 40,000 pounds of copper wire.
The incident occurred at 12:15 a.m. on February 21 when law enforcement agencies in Grayson County were alerted by Ohio County Dispatch that a semi-truck containing stolen copper wire was traveling east on the Western Kentucky Parkway and was nearing Grayson County.
Leitchfield Officers Eugene Cain and Brian Jennings make contact and stopped the vehicle at the 108-mile marker, just east of the Leitchfield exit.
The driver, 29-year-old Erkin Norkulov, told officers that the semi’s trailer “was not loaded,” according to the Leitchfield PD. But further investigation showed that Norkulov was carrying 40,000 pounds of stolen copper wire valued at, according to Leitchfield PD, $300,000.
“The shipment originated in North Carolina and was expected to be delivered to Illinois when the driver took the shipment off route …” LPD said. “It is unclear when and where Norkulov came into possession of the truck and its contents.”
Leitchfield police said that, according to the victim, “the truck had been tracked since losing contact with the driver on February 20, but law enforcement had been unable to make contact with the vehicle.”
This incident remains under investigation and LPD is working with the victim company and other agencies to determine if other parties are involved.
Norkulov was found to be a citizen of Uzbekistan, resulting in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) being contacted for assistance, according to LPD.
Norkulov was charged with receiving stolen property (more than $10,000, less than $1 million) and lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
