Fairfax County Police Department News

Detectives from the McLean Police District charged two Pennsylvania men with stealing cable TV batteries after a traffic stop in the Reston area.

An officer stopped the men on Thursday, February 5, on a traffic charge around 2:30 a.m. on Ring Road, near Weihle Avenue. The officer noticed several large cable box batteries, a bit larger than a typical car battery, in the vehicle he stopped. He followed up with detectives in the McLean District with the information.

Police had been notified by Cox Communications on January 27 about a resurgence in battery thefts and they had requested that police be on the lookout. There had been roughly 185 batteries stolen from all across the County, predominantly in the Western portions of Fair Oaks, Reston and Sully since late December 2014. These batteries serve as a back-up when power goes out so that customers won’t lose cable service and are specially made for the communications industry. Thieves typically steal them, along with other utility tools, for their scrap metal value. They weigh around 80 pounds each and likely would require some electrical, or wiring, expertise to remove from their power supply cabinets.

Police arrested Edwin Price, 44, of Bethlehem and Jason Drobnoek, 29 , of Altoona, Pennsylvania and charged them with grand larceny, stolen property with intent to sell, as well as false identification charges. They were transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.