Southern Indiana man arrested after copper theft from LG&E power station led to outage

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Charlestown man accused of stealing copper from an LG&E power station and causing a brief outage for several businesses last week was arrested Monday by Middletown Police.

The power outage happened after an explosion in the early morning hours of Sept. 11, after 47-year-old Daniel Tinney allegedly tampered with LG&E equipment while stealing copper from a power station located in the 1100 block of North Pope Lick Road in Middletown.

The explosion was heard throughout the area by people like Carol Poole, who lives down the street from the substation.

"I was in a dead sleep, and I'm hearing impaired so I didn't have my hearing aids in," Poole said. "And all of a sudden I just woke up and I was like what is going on."

She said the explosion shook the neighborhood. "Another neighbor down the street, he came out on his driveway and says he thought a house had blown up."

According to an arrest citation, the thefts from that location have been ongoing, and the "power station had been accessed by cutting fences and taking copper wire and metals for an extended period of time."

Police said Tinney admitted to entering a fenced LG&E area "that contains key infrastructure assets" and damaging property as he removed copper on several occasions. Surveillance video also showed Tinney's 2003 Ford Explorer at the property multiple times.

Carol Poole — Pictured: Carole Poole, who lives near an LG&E power station that was damaged by a copper thief that caused an explosion and power outage. (WDRB/Krystal Goodner)

The damage caused by the copper thefts is estimated at $500,000.

An LG&E spokesperson originally blamed the Sept. 11 power outage on "equipment malfunction."

Police said Tinney has been selling the copper at a local scrapyard since Aug. 15.

Tinney was arrested on a bench warrant on Sept. 15 and booked into Louisville Metro Corrections. He is facing several charges, including theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief, trespass of key infrastructure assets, and committing an unlawful act relating to acquiring metals causing injury to property.

Tinney pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Tuesday morning. He requested a public defender, and the judge set his bond at $50,000 full cash. Tinney's next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 19.

LG&E has since reinforced security at several of its sites, but the damage from this case alone could take months to fully repair.

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