Copper stolen: Fairground building targeted during theft

Two Dallas County men are in jail now after being accused of stealing more than $10,000 in copper from the Lions Club fairgrounds building over the past week.

MacCorey Norwood, 45, of Selma | Courtesy of DCSO

Randall Murphy, 46, of Valley Grande | Courtesy of DCSO

Dallas County Sheriff Mike Granthum said the two suspects were identified as Randall Murphy, 46, of Valley Grande and MacCorey Norwood, 45, of Selma, who were arrested Wednesday and charged with theft of property first degree, criminal mischief first degree and trespassing. They are still being held in jail on a $66,000 bond.

The investigation began on August 9 when the sheriff’s department was called to the Lions fairgrounds to investigate someone stealing copper that encased the wooden beams for the historic building. Some of that metal showed up in a scrap metal yard.

Granthum said they had done some surveillance to see if the suspects would return, and they decided to set up a sting operation on Wednesday morning. That’s when the suspects allegedly showed up.

“We were there early in the morning, and about 6 a.m., they got there — almost as if they were showing up for work,” Granthum said.

The copper encasements covered all of the support beams that run across the top of the building. Granthum said that large panels of copper had been taken from the beams. He said they also recovered the tools they were using to allegedly take the copper.

Granthum said the case is still under investigation, and more arrests are possible.

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