Two arrested in connection with plant thefts

After quick investigative work, officers with the Russellville Police Department were able to make two arrests in connection with thefts at an old Russellville plant.

David Keith Erwin, 41, of 1695 George Wallace Hwy., Russellville, and Timothy Dewayne Kimbrell, 41, of the same address, were both arrested on Wednesday and charged with third-degree theft of property, third-degree receiving stolen property and criminal mischief, Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett said.

According to Hargett, officers received a report on Tuesday from the property owner of the old Vulcan Materials plant in Russellville that several items had been stolen from behind a locked gate on the property.

Hargett said the items stolen, such as scrap iron, had been used during the time the plant was in operation but had been left at the plant once it closed.

“After we were contacted by the property owner, we knew the suspects would probably carry the stolen items to a scrap yard, so we started checking around because the items were distinctive,” Hargett said.

Authorities spoke with employees at one local scrap yard who remembered some of the items described and were able to give the officers some information, but Hargett said the officers didn’t get very far before they received a break in the case.

“Not long after the officers left, the two men the employees had just described came back to the scrap yard with different material,” Hargett said. “The officers returned and arrested the suspects there.”

Both Erwin and Kimbrell have been released from custody on bonds totaling $2,300.