Texarkana man faces 10 felony counts in Miller County cell tower copper thefts

TEXARKANA, Ark. – A Texarkana, Texas, man who deputies say ran from a T-Mobile cell tower carrying a machete last month now faces 10 felony counts tied to three break-ins at tower sites in Miller County, where a company representative told deputies the copper cable had been cut the same way at 16 other sites over six months.

Dylan Michael Johnson, 28, was charged Monday in three criminal informations filed in Miller County Circuit Court. Prosecutors allege he broke into T-Mobile tower sites on Aug. 26, Sept. 6 and Sept. 15, stole utility property worth $500 or more and damaged critical infrastructure.

Six of the counts are Class B felonies, each punishable by five to 20 years in prison. The remaining counts are one Class C felony of first-degree criminal mischief, three Class D counts of breaking or entering and a misdemeanor count of fleeing on foot.

The arrest came Sept. 15, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by Miller County Sheriff’s Office Detective Blake Eudy. A corporal responded about 3:05 p.m. to a tower alarm on Miller County Road 21 and saw a person in a straw hat, wearing a purple and pink backpack and carrying a machete, running south from the tower. The corporal chased the man a short distance and took Johnson into custody.

Asked what he was doing, Johnson replied that he was “trying to feed my kids,” the affidavit states.

Back at the tower, the corporal found the wire already cut and a hole cut in the chain-link fence where the suspect got in. A T-Mobile representative who came to the scene said the company had gotten a call at 2:28 p.m. that 5G service at the site was down and had alerted the sheriff’s office that the alarm appeared to be cable theft.

The representative told the deputy the cable “was cut just like the sixteen other sites over the last six months” and that replacing the copper would cost about $9,000, according to the affidavit.

While deputies searched the tower area, a sergeant drove to the Palmetto Fish Farm a few hundred yards away and found a brown and gray 2007 Ford F-150 with Texas plates parked inside an unlocked gate. A piece of paper with Johnson’s name was visible inside, and the truck was towed to the sheriff’s office. The registered owner, Johnson’s father, told investigators he lets his son use the truck because his own vehicle is broken down.

Detectives searched the truck Sept. 18 under a warrant and seized a pair of red bolt cutters, copper wire, a Milwaukee reciprocating saw and spare blade, two padlocks, Johnson’s wallet and driver’s license, and a small bag holding a glass pipe and a crystal substance they believed to be methamphetamine, according to the inventory filed with the court. No drug charge appears in the three informations.

Texarkana Arkansas Police Department detectives also obtained arrest warrants for Johnson for breaking or entering and criminal mischief, and one of his three first-appearance records lists TAPD as the arresting agency. The same warrant paperwork is filed in all three cases, and the court file does not say which tower the city’s case involved or where it is located. The Sept. 6 information charges breaking or entering, criminal mischief causing more than $5,000 in damage and two counts of criminal mischief to critical infrastructure.

At his first appearance Sept. 18, a judge set bond at $30,000 in each of the three cases, a total of $90,000, and appointed a public defender. As of Tuesday, none of the three dockets showed a bond had been posted. Johnson’s next court date is Oct. 13 at 9 a.m.

A statewide search of Arkansas court records turned up no prior felony cases against Johnson.

Charges are accusations. Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.