Officers from the New Castle County Division of Police have charged 48-year-old Jason Elgart of New Castle following a felony theft investigation.
Officials said on Friday, January 26, 2024, at 4:15 p.m., officers responded to the unit block of University Avenue in reference to a theft investigation reported by Verizon. Witnesses on the scene reported a large-scale outage in the area and it was discovered that $20,664.00 of copper wire/cable was stolen. The theft caused 500 customers to lose service for nearly 19 hours. Officers quickly identified the suspect as 48-year-old Jason Elgart police said.
Officers were able to link Elgart to a residence on the unit block of University Avenue. Officers conducted a search warrant on the residence and located several hundred feet of fiber optic cable, burnt pieces of fiber optic cable, and various cutting tools.
Elgart was taken into custody without incident and charged with one felony count of interruption of computer services in the first degree, one felony count of possession of burglar tools, one felony count of theft, and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled counterfeit substance. He was arraigned by the Justice of the Peace Court 11 and held in lieu of $15,000.00 cash bail.