Rochester Man Accused Of Stealing Copper Wire While Out On Bond

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Rochester man is facing a felony charge in connection with a copper wire theft.

The criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted County Court on Tuesday, indicates the alleged theft occurred while he was out on bond for an incident earlier this year in which he is accused of ramming a Rochester police squad vehicle.

Deputies from the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office encountered him while responding to a trespass complaint shortly before 7:00 Monday morning.

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Rochester Man Accused of Stealing Copper Wire Arrested After Being Found on Private Property

31-year-old Cody Allen Ambrose is charged with one count of receiving stolen property.

The complaint says the person who reported the trespassing complaint found Ambrose with a vehicle at a business in the 3300 block of 60th Ave. SW. The business is not named in the complaint.

Ambrose told law enforcement he was burning copper wires and did not know he was on private property despite No Trespassing signs being posted. The complaint also says a common method to get at the copper in wires is to burn off the plastic casing.

A responding deputy saw spools of wire in a vehicle Ambrose arrived in. A K-9 search was initiated and the K-9 detected the presence of narcotics, the court document says.

Wire Found During Vehicle Search

Deputies searched the vehicle and found rolls of different wires in the back seat, some of which still had labels from different businesses on them.

One of the businesses contacted by law enforcement confirmed having wire recently stolen from their work trucks, the complaint says.

Ambrose was arrested and told a deputy that he knew, “where a bunch more stolen copper wire was,” and that he could take the deputy to it as he was being walked to a squad car, the complaint says.

In all, Ambrose is accused of stealing $1,674.93 worth of wire.

Ramming Incident in March

Ambrose was charged in March of this year with two counts of first-degree property damage and a count of fifth-degree drug possession following an arrest in Rochester.

He is accused of ramming two Rochester police squad cars as officers attempted to execute a search warrant before crashing into an apartment building. He posted a non-cash bond in that case in April and the case remains ongoing.

Court records indicate Ambrose has a criminal history that dates back to 2014 and includes convictions for felony fleeing, stalking, drug possession and burglary.

Ambrose was released without bail following his first court appearance in the new case on Tuesday. He’s due back in court next month.