Three men are behind bars in Carroll County on copper theft charges after leading police on a chase overnight Thursday.

Sheriff Dale Williams said he and his deputies worked about 24 hours straight to track down the suspects, saving thousands of dollars after linking them to several theft investigations over the past few months.


  "The Carroll Electric Sub Station on Cobbler Road, it's been hit about three times, stealing copper and wire and stuff out of that substation," said Williams. "About four or five nights ago, I put two people up there on that substation at night to watch it."

Williams said about 2:30 a.m., the suspects were spotted at the substation, so deputies moved to arrest them.

"(The) two that were in the substation took off running. One jumped in the car with another guy. The other one ran down in the corn field," said Williams.

The driver of the getaway car hit one deputy, but the sheriff said he is OK. They caught Rick Willis, of Salineville, first, and then after a few more hours, deputies arrested Marcus Jarvis, of Salineville, and Nathaniel Gordon, of Wellsville, along state Route 39.

"On top of that, we've also learned that they were in the Washington Township garage last night and stole chain saws and a bunch of other items. We have recovered that stuff," said Williams.

The suspects are connected to several other copper theft investigations, including a welding shop, said Williams. It adds up to thousands of dollars, the sheriff said.

They all face charges of grand theft and breaking and entering, Williams said. More charges will also come out of the arrests, Williams said.

"This is a good deal. There's some arson involved with this, and there's some other stuff. So things are going good," said Williams.