It what can only be described as a very unique crime, State Police out of Wolcott arrested two men on Monday (2/6) at 12:30 p.m.

An employee of the cell phone company tower on Mud Lane in Sodus approached two men working on a cell tower on the property. The men said they were decommissioning the tower and stripping all the wire. They had a trailer full of copper wire and thick cables already loaded into a trailer. The employee said absolutely not and   Stater Police were called.

State Police arrived on the scene and Vincent DePaul, age 35, of Lodi Street in Syracuse and Brandon L. Rudy, age 33, of Kirkville Road in the Town of Kirkville were both charged with Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree; Felony Burglary in the Third Degree; Felony Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree and Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree.

Both men were taken to CAP Court with a recommended bail of $2000 cash/$4000 bond and released for a preliminary hearing in Sodus Court.

It was estimated the damage to the Mud Lane cell tower was in the ten to twenty thousand dollar range. 

The arrests shined light on similar cell phone tower stripping in both Seneca and Onondaga Counties and incidents as far away as Pennsylvania.