NEW HAVEN, INDIANA — A 24-year-old driver was arrested after police say he tried to pick up more than $115,000 worth of copper wire from a New Haven copper manufacturer while posing as a driver for a freight company. Employees turned him away after the freight company warned that its email had been compromised.
Arshdeep Singh arrived at the facility claiming to be a man named Brar Kavy from Washington and handed over a commercial driver’s license in that name. He said he was there to pick up 22,740 pounds of copper wire. Security cameras showed a semi with a California-registered cab and trailer pulling into the lot, with the tractor’s license plate attached to the grille with zip ties.
Employees tried to verify the license and registrations, but nothing matched. The Pennsylvania-based freight company had also called the manufacturer to say its email had been compromised and that it feared an unauthorized load had been shipped. With the warning and the mismatched paperwork, employees sent the driver away empty-handed and called police.
Tracked by Flock Cameras
Flock cameras captured the semi leaving the facility and heading to a truck stop near IN-13 and I-69. When officers ran the plates, the vehicle type did not match the truck in front of them. The trailer’s identification number led back to a report that it had been stolen in New Haven more than a week earlier.
Singh told police a friend had asked him to pick up the load because the friend was sick. He said the friend also told him to change the plates, the trailer unit number, and the company logo on the truck and trailer so he could pick up another load in Noblesville, Indiana. Police found that Singh’s California CDL was disqualified.
Singh was charged with attempted theft, a Level 5 felony, identity deception, a Level 6 felony, and operating a commercial motor vehicle while disqualified, a misdemeanor. He is being held in the Allen County Jail.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Information courtesy of WANE 15.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
