Police seek man for theft of $100,000 worth of copper

PALMER — A 25-year employee of the local telephone company is facing felony theft charges after police say he took $100,000 worth of copper wire.

Detective Sgt. Kelly Turney with the Palmer Police Department said that the wire went missing Saturday and the theft was reported at 10 a.m. Monday. He said officer Luke Szipszky went over to the Matanuska Telephone Association offices to investigate.

"Eight reels of heavy duty copper cable had been removed from the yard for shipment to Anchorage," Turney said.

The copper came on spools large enough they needed a flatbed trailer to transport. All told, around 60,000 feet of cable was taken.

Turney called the shipping company, which he said was very helpful, and traced the missing cable back to MTA employee Howard Tresham.

Police interviewed Tresham, Turney said, who told them he had sold the wire for $5,000 cash to a guy named Robert.

Robert, Turney said, turned out to be an Oregon resident with a bunch of aliases. Robert Ristick is likely his name, but he also goes by Robert Stevens, Robert Ephrem and, possibly, Steve Ristick.

Turney said he believes Robert is still either in the Valley or in Anchorage and he's still tracking him down. Anyone with information about his whereabouts can call the Palmer Police Department at 745-4811.

More of this story will appear in Friday's Frontiersman.