An officer with the Dixon Correctional Center is facing felony theft charges after Whiteside County deputies say they found stolen scrap in his rural Sterling home.
Troy J. Morgan, 31, is charged with six counts of felony theft and two counts of misdemeanor theft. Whiteside County Sheriff Kelly Wilhelmi said that a deputy was driving by Morgan's home on W. Lincolnway in Sterling, when the deputy noticed some black smoke something. The deputy found Morgan outside, burning some stolen copper wire.
"It turns out this copper wire came from a local business," Wilhelmi said.
After searching the property, police recovered items that had been stolen from homes and businesses spanning three counties. Most of it was scrap metal --
"There's a lot of that going on," Wilhelmi said. "Copper wire thefts. We're having quite a problem with it coming off of irrigation systems."
Adding to the ongoing problem, Wilhelmi said many scrap yards are either knowingly, or unknowingly, paying top dollar for stolen scrap metal.
"If all of a sudden tomorrow there was never a scrap yard open, we wouldn't have as many thefts," he said.
Morgan has worked for the Illinois Department of Correction since 2003. He is on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation is conducted.
