A Butler man was caught allegedly stealing ground wires from utility poles on West North Street early Monday morning.

The suspected scrapper, 21-year-old Michael Ray John, remains jailed on a pair of felony charges.

Butler police were called shortly before 1 a.m. for a report of a man pulling a wagon. The same man, police said, was seen climbing telephone poles and clipping copper grounding wires.

Officers found John on West North and North Chestnut streets. He was hauling a wagon that contained red wire cutters and an orange bucket. In the bucket, police said, were two dozen ground wires owned by West Penn Power.

The copper wire is connected to a ground rod on each utility pole and runs from the ground rod up the side of the pole to the transformer. The wire and ground rod serve as safety mechanisms.

If lightning strikes the transformer, the wire and ground rod can protect the pole from fire or other damage. The wire and rod can also prevent damage to other electrical equipment connected to the circuit.

While being questioned at the station, John admitted stealing wires on West North Street as well as on East Brady Street, where he lives, according to court documents.

Police later contacted West Penn officials, who explained the danger posed by the alleged crime.

Cutting the wires off the poles, the utility advised, “can send a reverse source back to the power supplies potentially causing death or serious injury to West Penn Power employees,” a police affidavit said.

Utility authorities estimated the replacement value of the stolen property at $2,400.

John was arraigned on felony charges of theft and risking a catastrophe and a misdemeanor charge of possessing an instrument of crime. He is in the Butler County Prison on $5,000 bail.

When police arrested John Monday, he was free on his own recognizance in an unrelated theft case.

In that case, which is pending in county court, John is accused of stealing a mountain bike in March from a home in the 400 block of West North Street in Butler.