Seven arrested in connection to copper theft spree

By Editor | June 12, 2025 |

From Staff Reports
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Copper theft has been a growing issue in the area over the past few years as electrical wire started showing up missing from work sites, pulled from homes and businesses under construction, and even pulled straight from power polls.
The thieves responsible are often hard to identify and charge for the crimes, but local officials caught a nice break in a recent string of these thefts when a county deputy stopped to assist a motorist that was having car troubles on the side of a state highway.
According to Perry County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Edward Bolton, officers had been looking into several recent thefts of copper wire and were making progress in the investigation when the officer’s good Samaritan effort on Thursday, June 5, unexpectedly blew open the case.
“One of our officers stopped to assist a stranded motorist on the side of Hwy. 15 and as he was going back to his vehicle to get jumper cables noticed two tubs of copper wire that the insulation had been burned off,” Bolton said. “That led to the first two arrests and really broke open the investigation.”
Kimberly D. Holifield, 38, of Sandersville, and Troy Lee Pool, 26, of Ovett, were taken into custody and later booked into the Perry County Jail on charges of Grand Larceny and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime.
Later Thursday afternoon when officers returned to the site where the suspects’ vehicles that had been left roadside, they discovered a window had since been broken out. As they were looking into the matter and recovering additional evidence for the initial arrests, a vehicle carrying five individuals drove past and one of the officers noticed an expired tag on the vehicle. Bolton said a Mississippi Highway Patrolman who was on the scene pursued the vehicle and made a traffic stop. Three of the individuals in the vehicle were among several people police had identified as persons of interest in the thefts.
Timothy Rhymes, Brittany Davis, and Ketlyn Danielle Bryce, all of Laurel, were taken into custody at that time. Rhymes, 34, was later booked into the Perry County Jail on charges of Grand Larceny and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime. Davis, 31, and Bryce, 25, were each charged with Conspiracy to Commit a Crime and Accessory After the Fact.
Meanwhile, PCSO was working with Jones County officials to obtain a search warrant for a residence at 30 Galvin Mills Road, which had been identified as the location officials believed the suspects had taken the wire to remove insulation and protective covering. During execution of that search warrant late Thursday, Jones County officers reportedly recovered items at the address that were reported stolen in previous cases they had been working.
Also found at the residence and taken into custody was 29-year-old Kevin Dolton Langley, of Laurel. Just after midnight Friday morning, Langley was charged with Grand Larceny and Conspiracy to Commit a Crime in connection to the copper thefts.
The seventh arrest in the matter occurred last Friday when a tip from an area scrap yard led to the arrest of William B. Phillip, 34, of Ellisville. The Jones County Sheriff’s Department made that arrest and Phillip was extradited to the Perry County Jail where he was charged with Grand Larceny.
A second search warrant was obtained on Wednesday for the residence at 30 Galvin Mills Road, but results of that search were not available at press time.
Investigator Bolton said 560 feet of 200-pair copper wire, valued at roughly $3,000, was stolen from AT&T poles in Richton. AT&T reported the theft of wire from near Central Baptist Church and there was also copper stolen from various locations in the area including Tubby Cooper Loop to Rube Rich Road.
As of Wednesday morning, Rhymes, Phillip, Langley, Brice and Davis were still in custody at the jail in New Augusta. Phillip and Davis each have holds on them from Jones County after their bonds on previous arrests were revoked. Rhymes has a hold on him from MDOC for violation of parole. Poole and Holifield have been released on bond.
As with all arrests, the suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.