County workers arrested in theft case

Keith Paul

Thursday, June 20, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

Three Clark County employees apparently thought that a stack of unattended electronic equipment wouldn't be missed Wednesday. Unfortunately for them, it was missed and the owners were willing to press charges.

Actually, the three men were arrested by the equipment's owners: It seems they were accused of stealing laptop computers and hand-held radios owned by Metro Police, according to a police report.

Carmine Kopecky, 18, Kyle Kuhn, 19, and Frank Cressey, 24, were arrested and booked into the county jail on felony grand larceny.

"I would think that even dumb crooks know not to steal from the police department," said Sgt. Christopher Darcy, a Metro spokesman. "It's just not a good idea to steal from the police department."

The three part-time Parks and Recreation Department workers went in county trucks to the communications building on West Russell Road about 9:45 a.m. to pick up some barricades for a county event.

Metro communications employees had placed the boxes of equipment on a helipad, waiting for the department's helicopter to arrive to take them and the equipment to a radio tower. When the helicopter landed, the communications workers came out and noticed the equipment was gone. They also noticed three guys loading the barricades into trucks.

When asked about the electronic equipment, the three men first said they didn't know anything about it.

Then their story changed.

"When the police employees started looking in the trucks, (the suspects) said they did put the equipment in the trucks, but only to get it out of the sun," Darcy said.

Apparently they really wanted to make sure no sunlight hit the electronic equipment.

"Instead of the equipment all being placed in the bed of the truck, the hand-held radios and (the) laptop computers were hidden under the front seat (of the county truck)," the police report states.

The total value of the equipment was more than $11,000.

The three men where hired by the Parks and Recreation Department through its Special Workers Assistance Program (SWAP), which provides part-time employment opportunities.

Doug Bradford, the department's resource development manager, said the three were picking up barricades for this weekend's jazz concert in the Government Center's amphitheater when they were arrested.

They had worked part-time -- making between $8 and $9 an hour -- setting up special events for the county for about a year, Bradford said.

"They go through the same background checks as full-time employees do," Bradford said. "We've had no problems with them. It surprised everyone that they were arrested."