VAN BUREN COUNTY, Mich.-- Authorities have been searching for three men on surveillance video tied to an alleged copper wire theft that cut power to homes near Grand Junction last Thursday. Tuesday night one of those three men went willingly to talk to Michigan State Police.
Cameron Smith says what he did is fair game, and it’s just simply a misunderstanding, but authorities will tell you they still aren't sure. As of Tuesday night the incident is still under investigation. Authorities will take what they find and meet with prosecutors to see if any charges will be filed.
“I feel like I didn't do anything wrong, so I feel like I don't need to worry about anything,” said Cameron Smith.
Smith is confident he didn't do anything wrong after willingly meeting with a state police detective Tuesday night.
“He did cooperate. It was an open dialogue,” said Michigan State Police Detective Shane Criger.
Cameron Smith said the open dialogue was all about maintaining his innocence.
“I was forced to cut it to protect us,” said Smith.
Smith and two associates were tied to the missing copper shortly after this surveillance video surfaced of the trio at nearby convenient store called Mr. Grocery in Grand Junction. They were spotted on surveillance video just a short time before the reported outage Thursday.
“It was a downed power line on the ground. I’m not going to leave it there. Anybody could have gotten killed and anybody could have gotten hurt,” said Smith.
Detectives are still looking to talk to and meet the two other suspects in the surveillance video. After authorities talk to them they will submit their report to the Van Buren County prosecutor’s office. They will be looking into one discrepancy. Smith returned 80 feet of copper wire, but Consumer’s Energy says 300 feet was initially missing.
