Two men accused of stealing more than $1 million of copper wire from phone lines may be facing additional charges.

James Andrew Roe and Vernon James Jackson are both currently facing fourth-degree felony charges of theft and the disrupting of public services.

Investigators said the thefts happened in the Mingo Junction area of the county several times this year. Prosecutors said they may increase the charges against the suspects because thousands of AT&T customers lost access to calling 911.

Assistant Prosecutor Edward Littlejohn Jr. said this is not the first time the suspects have allegedly been involved in copper thefts.

Because of the amount of copper that was stolen -- almost 1,300 feet of wire -- Littlejohn said officials may increase the charges to a third-degree felony.

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said he and his deputies focused extra patrols on Tweed Avenue and the surrounding areas since the thefts started earlier this year.

He said deputies first traced the suspects to a home on April 12, where the pair was hiding in an attic.

"Finally, they came out. We brought them down. In the vehicle, there was pieces of copper wire, and it was identified as AT&T, as their wire," Abdalla said.

But, at that time, it wasn't enough evidence to file charges on both suspects. This week, however, investigators said they gathered enough information and found out the suspects delivered about 1,000 pounds of copper to a facility.

"We have them on video taking the stuff to a location and getting receipts for the copper," Abdalla said.

The sheriff said workers at the facility could be charged with receiving stolen property for not initially reporting they had taken in that much copper wire. Authorities are not pursuing that, because the facility is cooperating with the investigation.

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