Richland County authorities have charged three people in a copper theft probe that has cost AT&T and other communication customers more than just metal. The arrests announced this week include 58-year-old Michael McCraw, who was taken into custody on June 24, and William Morgan and Charley Zorn, who were arrested July 25.
The scale is what makes the case land now. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department says AT&T alone has been hit by 105 copper thefts in the past year, while Richland County has seen 60 incidents since October 2025. Officials say the thefts are not simple grab-and-go crimes: thieves cut cables, burn through communication line, and leave infrastructure damaged in the process.
McCraw was charged with Obtaining Money under False Pretenses after officials said he sold stolen copper. Investigators estimate he made nearly $38,000 from burned communication line copper. Morgan and Zorn face charges of Unlawful Sale of Nonferrous Metals, Possession of Burglary Tools, Petit Larceny $2,000 or less, Criminal Conspiracy and Theft of Electric Current after Columbia Police Department patrol officers responded to a suspicious persons call from a community member.
The broader pattern fits a familiar theft economy: copper is stripped, moved through scrap metal dealers and recyclers, and turned into fast cash. But the damage stays behind. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said the thieves are chasing a quick payday while leaving neighborhoods without phone service, businesses offline and emergency communications at risk. That is the part residents feel immediately, even when the copper itself is gone.
There is still a gap in the case, and authorities are not pretending otherwise. RCSD says the incidents remain under investigation and several other people of interest are still being pursued. That is why the department is telling the public to watch for suspicious activity near poles, manholes, cell sites, utility easements and construction areas, and to look for burn pits, piles of outer cable sheath or dumped cable.
Scrap metal dealers and recyclers are also being urged to pay closer attention to sellers offering unusually large quantities of copper or cable, especially material that looks burned, melted, stripped or de-sheathed, or that appears to contain twisted, color-coded telecommunications pairs rather than ordinary household wiring. For now, the arrests mark a real break in the case, but not the end of it. The question that matters most is how many of the 60 Richland County incidents will ultimately be tied back to the people already in custody.
Anyone who sees suspicious behavior can call 911, the Columbia-Richland non-emergency number at 252-2911, or submit an anonymous tip to CrimeStoppers at 1 CRIME-SC.
