A Gillette man accused of stealing $50,000 worth of copper wire from a former employer had explanations about why his truck was caught in the early morning hours on video taking the wire and why a salvage yard cut him a check for nearly $3,000 for copper later that day.
Danney Lee Pollock, born in 1983, told police after his Wednesday arrest that a buddy often borrows his truck, and did so the night of Sept. 21 when the copper was stolen a little before 4 a.m., wrote Gillette Police Officer Chance Quarterman in an affidavit of probable cause.
Pollock also admitted to police that he sold copper later that day to a Gillette salvage yard and got a check for $2,978 for it, the affidavit says.
But that was for unrelated copper sold by another buddy named George, who for some reason had the check made out to Pollock, he told police.
“I asked Danney why a check from (the salvage yard) would be written to him for almost $3,000 on the same day the copper wire was taken,” Quarterman wrote.
“Danney explained he had a friend, identified as ‘George,’ who worked for (a local plumber),” the affidavit continues. “George would collect spare copper plumbing parts from plumbing jobs and resell it later.”
Pollock’s explanations for what he conceded didn’t look good for him seemed to run out when also confronted with other information, the affidavit says.
That includes gray copper wire casing identical to the wire stolen from Cyclone Drilling found in the bed of his truck, and that it appears to be his truck on surveillance video driving in and out of Cyclone at the time of the theft.
Pollock, who insisted on giving his story to investigators, “continued to talk in circles, essentially removing himself from any wrongdoing in relation to the actual theft,” Quarterman wrote.
“Danney admitted his story did not make sense but was insistent on it being the truth about the events that had taken place,” the affidavit says.
On Video
Quarterman wrote that the investigation began Sept. 25 when Cyclone Drilling reported that a large amount of copper wire was stolen from its property Sept. 21 — about 1,550 feet of wire worth about $50,000.
Surveillance video from Cyclone and nearby businesses show a dark gray Ford F-150 with two people inside, later identified as Pollock’s vehicle, the affidavit says.
“Before the vehicle enters the Cyclone lot, the truck pulls into (another) parking lot,” the affidavit says. “Two figures get out of the driver and passenger doors and appear to put something in frot of the license plates.”
Then a few minutes after leaving Cyclone, the two men get out and take the covers off the license plates.
When the copper wire was discovered missing, someone from Cyclone called the salvage yard, which said it had recently been sold a large load of copper wire, the affidavit says.
That salvage yard bought copper from Pollock that day exactly matching the stolen copper and paid another man that day $3,063 for another load, Quarterman wrote.
There hadn’t been other people charged in this case as of Friday, according to court records.
Who Was Driving?
When first confronted with the allegations, Pollock told police that a number of different people could’ve been driving his truck that night, according to the affidavit.
“Danney denied the allegations and stated that other people commonly drive his vehicle,” the affidavit says. “Danney stated that his vehicle would be seen on the camera footage because he currently worked for Cyclone as a painter.”
Investigators later learned Pollock was fired from Cyclone in February for attendance issues.
“When it was disclosed to him that his vehicle was seen at approximately 3:45 hours, Danney agreed that would be a strange time for him to be on the property,” the affidavit says.
Pollock had his initial appearance in Campbell County Circuit Court on Thursday, and is being held on a $50,000 cash or surety bond.
If convicted of the single count of felony theft he’s charged with, Pollock faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
