HARVEY – A Des Moines man is behind bars after authorities say he stole large amounts of copper wire from the Harvey Rock Quarry.

Court documents show that last Friday at approximately 8:04am, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the Harvey Rock Quarry in Harvey that items had been stolen from their plant. Deputies arrived at the plant and conducted a brief investigation. They learned that roughly $20,000 worth of copper wire was stolen from the plant and that one of the closed gates to the plant had been cut in order for someone to gain access.

Authorities were given a license plate number from a vehicle that was believed to be suspicious and was seen in the area earlier in the week. Deputies eventually discovered a broken tail light in the area of the alleged theft, which matched the description of the suspicious vehicle.

On Tuesday of this week, law enforcement located the vehicle, which was parked at a storage unit in Des Moines. 31-year-old Eric Aldridge was found at the storage unit with the door open, and authorities observed the copper wire stacked inside of the unit. Police say that Aldridge had a generator in his vehicle with an extension cord plugged into a machine used to strip the covering off the copper wire.

Ultimately, a search warrant was issued to retrieve the items used in this incident, and Aldridge was arrested. He now faces two felony charges, including first degree theft (class C felony) and third degree burglary (class D felony).