BEAUMONT, Texas — A Jefferson County man is behind bars Tuesday afternoon after deputies allegedly found his truck at the scene of the crime, which he then reported stolen the very next day.
Mark Campise Jr. allegedly confessed to attempting to steal a large amount of wire from an Entergy plant according to the Jefferson County Sherriff's Office.
Campise Jr. is now facing a criminal mischief charge.
Back on August 8, at around midnight, Jefferson County Sheriffs Office responded to 10764 Old Sour Lake Road in Beaumont for a possible burglary.
This address was reportedly discovered to be the Entergy Amelia Bulk sub-station.
An investigation revealed unauthorized movement was detected by the surveillance monitoring company who reported the incident to Jefferson County Sheriffs Office according to court documents.
Deputies say that they found a white SUV backed up to a gate registered to Campise Jr.
After deputies began searching the vehicle, they found a cell phone in the passenger seat.
One deputy then noticed a path leading through the brush leading to the stations fence.
Court documents say when deputies approached the fence they found "a hole cut in the fence large enough for an adult to crawl through".
Next to the hole was a reciprocating saw as well as backpack containing, what they described as "more burglary tools", including a drill and 2 sets of bolt-cutters.
Several strands of aluminum wire were also located next to the exterior of the fence, but deputies were unable to find whoever intended to make off with it.
That is, until around 4 p.m. the next day when Campise called the Beaumont Police Department to report his truck stolen.
Officers later met with Campise and began questioning him about his whereabouts the night prior, when Campise ultimately confessed to his involvement in the attempted theft according to court documents.
Campise confessed that he and another man had went to the substation that night to steal the wire, but was interrupted by deputies.
Entergy supervisor Michael Simmons says the cost to repair the hole cut in the fence is around $1,383.
Simmons also stated that The wire is described as 1272ACSR, which is a primary conductor wire utilized for stringing transmission line from station to station.
Simmons said this type of wire was specifically designed and ordered to be utilized for an upcoming Entergy project. Entergy will not be able to proceed with the project until replacement of the wire can be made.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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