Convicted copper thief sentenced for Columbiana County AT&T outage

A Rogers man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for stealing copper wire, disrupting internet and phone service, including 911 dispatchers, in the Lisbon area last fall.
Robert "B.J." Anderson III, 45, was sentenced by Judge Scott Washam, according to the Columbiana County Prosecutor's Office. He was found guilty of theft, possessing criminal tools and disrupting public/emergency services.

The incident occurred in late fall 2023. Lisbon Police investigating a service outage affecting AT&T customers, including emergency services, found a section of cut AT&T line, about three feet long, near an unoccupied vehicle on state Route 154. They also discovered multiple bags and bolt cutters.
Anderson was found hiding in a nearby ravine and gave officers a false explanation for his presence and the bolt cutters, the prosecutor's office said.
Noting that copper theft is at an all-time high, the prosecutor urged anyone with information about such crimes to contact their local police department.
