Vandergrift police accused a couple of driving around borough streets and clipping wire from utility poles so they could sell the metal for scrap.

David Wayne Siford, 43, of the 100 block of Washington Avenue in Vandergrift was charged with two counts of criminal conspiracy and counts of criminal mischief, theft and receiving stolen property, which are felonies, along with a count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kayla Shibon Denison, 39, who lives with Siford, was charged with two felony counts of criminal conspiracy along with two drug possession charges.

They both were charged by summons and ordered to appear for separate preliminary hearings before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec on May 30, court records show.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that shortly before noon March 8, a man who was out walking his dog called 911 to report seeing someone cutting wire from telephone poles in the 100 block of East Adams Avenue near 20th Street.

The caller told officers who responded to the scene that a man with red bolt cutters uttered an expletive when he realized he was spotted and fled in a silver Ford Focus, with a loud exhaust, that was being driven by a woman.

Thirty minutes later, a car matching the description was spotted along Route 356 by a police sergeant who pulled it over near the GetGo gas pumps in Allegheny Towne Center, the complaint said.

Police said there were several bags and a shopping basket in the back seat of Denison’s car that were filled with wire matching the description of the wire cut from the poles, the complaint said.

When police told Denison about the wire thefts, she responded that there is a vehicle in Vandergrift that is the same as hers and that she “gets blamed for doing things all the time,” the complaint said.

She said the scrap wire in the car belonged to her boyfriend, who makes money by selling it because he can’t find a job, police said.

Police said there were pieces of cut wire and a pair of red bolt cutters in the passenger seat when Siford got out of the car.

When questioned about the wire and cutters, Siford admitted to stealing the wire. Within earshot of an officer, he told Denison he was “going to take the rap for everything” and for her not to speak to police, the complaint said.

Denison told police she didn’t know anything about the wire thefts and was at a local pizza shop before driving to get gas at the GetGo and being pulled over, the complaint said.

Denison admitted she drove Siford around to steal wire for scrap after police put her in handcuffs and told her they had video evidence and witnesses proving she was involved in the thefts, police said.

In addition to the bolt cutters and wire found in the car, a glass pipe with suspected crystal meth residue and several suspected ecstasy pills were confiscated, according to the complaint.

Police said they found Denison’s identification inside a Michael Kors brand purse, along with bags of crystal meth and drug paraphernalia.

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