Carthage man arrested for cutting down telephone wire south of Joplin

A man from Carthage was arrested Monday after being caught in the act of cutting telephone wire.

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office says 45-year-old Jeremy M. Scott had already sawed off a quarter-mile of wire in an area just south of the Walter Woods Conservation Area, south of Joplin.

Scott told a deputy he cut it down and planned to steal it.

He did about $6,000 worth of damage.

Scott also had an active failure to appear warrant out of Jasper County.

Charges were submitted to the Newton County Prosecutor’s Office for Stealing and Property Damage.

He was taken to the Newton County Jail.