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Bond was set on a heating and air-conditioning employee Wednesday after he was charged with causing nearly $150,000 in damage to a local business’ during what police say was an attempted copper theft.
Orangeburg County Magistrate Betty Bates-Gray set bond Wednesday afternoon on 27-year-old Andreus Sherwood Strange of a Country Colony Drive address. Strange is charged with malicious injury to real property valued at more than $5,000.
“I’m setting bond at $75,000 surety; it could go higher,” Bates-Gray said. “You’re telling me you’re innocent. I don’t want you to tell me you’re guilty. I considered $100,000, but I decided on $75,000 with that much damage.”
A warrant served against the Orangeburg man employed at a local heating and cooling business indicates the charge stems from a June 12 incident in which an estimated $147,000 worth of damage was caused to multiple air-conditioning units at The Okonite Company on Rowesville Road.
“As you know, or as you’ve heard or read in the paper, we’ve had a lot of trouble in Orangeburg County,” Bates-Gray said. “People stealing copper.”
The judge then asked for the subject’s criminal history, which included forgery and receiving-stolen-goods cases that had already been adjudicated.
“And that’s all,” Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Deputy Bobby Jackson said.
“That’s enough, isn’t it?” Bates-Gray said before turning back to Strange. “OK, anything you want to say?”
Barely audible, Strange said his was a case of mistaken identity, that a relative may have committed the crime.
“Like I said, they have charged you, they haven’t charged your brother,” Bates-Gray said. “You stand before me with an extensive record and $147,000 in damages.”
Prior to the judge’s decision, Jackson asked for the maximum possible bond on Strange because of the amount of damage.
The initial incident happened at the Okonite facility on June 12 when around 7 a.m. employees noticed a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu parked behind the Rowesville Road facility. When the employees and a deputy turned up no one around the vehicle or in nearby buildings, they called a tow truck.
When the tow truck arrived, however, the driver spotted a man coming down from the roof of the facility. The man told the tow truck driver that he’d lost his keys and was working on the building. The man then drove off.
The deputy and the employees climbed onto the roof where the subject had been seen and discovered the copper tubing from five AC units had been removed. The copper tubing and coils from two units were piled up on top of the building. Several tools and a pair of gloves were also found.
A message left for Okonite’s general manager was not returned Wednesday afternoon.
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516.