A second person has been arrested in connection with the Feb. 22 theft of copper wiring from a shuttered Photocircuits building in Peachtree City, police said.

Charles Anthony Tidwell of Loganville was arrested last week with assistance from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, police said. Tidwell was found hiding in the attic of the home in a bid to avoid capture, police said.

At the home where Tidwell was arrested, police found recycling receipts indicating that approximately $82,000 in cooper wire had been cashed in during the past few months, police said.

The group of individuals working the scheme used commercial real estate listings to check for vacant properties to target, police said.

Tidwell is charged with burglary and additional charges are anticipated as the investigation continues, police said. This is the second arrest in the investigation, with the first suspect taken into custody after originally giving officers the slip when the incident was first reported.

That suspect, Keith Dortch of Lawrenceville, was arrested after a citizen reported giving him a ride in his truck. Dortch fought with the officer who first tried to arrest him, and the officer used pepper spray in an attempt to subdue him. Dortch got away briefly on foot, running through a wooded area.

Dortch was found less than an hour later hiding near the nearby Hoshizaki plant.

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