Patton

Staff Reports

A Johnson County man was arrested Monday as part of an investigation into the theft of more than $4,000 in electrical wire from The Home Depot in Seymour.

Evan Marcus Patton, 31, of Franklin faces a Level 6 felony charge of theft in connection with the incident reported May 21 at the store at 1715 E. Tipton St., according to a news release from Lt. C.J. Foster with the Seymour Police Department.

Foster said police received information from asset protection employees at the store that a theft involving numerous rolls of electrical wire had occurred.

He said investigators were able to determine the vehicle that the suspect had loaded the wire into and then left the store.

Investigators contacted the owner of the vehicle, who was a driver for Lyft, an online transportation provider. The Lyft driver told investigators he had picked up a male in Greenwood and transported him to The Home Depot in Seymour, where he had obtained the wire.

The driver then transported the male to a location in Franklin.

On Tuesday, investigators with the Seymour Police Department went to the 2500 block of South U.S. 31 in Franklin and located the suspect, Foster said.

The suspect told police that he had recently been terminated from his employment and had fallen on hard times, Foster said. The suspect claimed he just swapped the wire out and did not take it.

Evidence collected by investigators showed otherwise, Foster said.

Investigators also located more than $2,100 on Patton at the time of his arrest, Foster said. The money was seized and is believed to be proceeds of the theft, he said.

Patton was booked into the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday and was being held there Friday in lieu of a $1,505 bond.

A Level 6 felony is punishable by six months to two and half years in prison with an advisory sentence of one year if convicted.