Salisbury man charged with taking copper from home under construction

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Authorities charged a Salisbury man with breaking into property under construction less than a mile from where he was staying.
Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Jerry Ramzi Isbanioly, 28, of the 400 block of Old Tulip Farm Road, with two counts breaking and entering a building, one count possession of burglary tools and two counts larceny. All are felonies.
Investigators spoke with Bobby Lee Jones, the general contractor, for the Woodleaf Road home that was under construction. He told deputies he was at the house until about 9 p.m. the night before.
When he arrived Monday someone had removed the light bulbs to the motion sensor. The crawl space door had been pried open and all the wiring had been cut and removed. The deputy found footprints at the back of the house near the crawl space.
When deputies went to a home where Isbanioly was staying, the first thing officers noticed was a pair of shoes that matched the footprints left at the property. There was also a pair of muddy jeans. The officer noted in his report it appeared to be the same type of mud from the break-in.
Isbanioly’s sister told officers they could come in to the home and speak with her brother, who was asleep. The deputy went to the back of Isbanioly’s home to an outbuilding where there were signs of burnt copper wiring and copper tubing that matched the crime scene.
Officers spoke with Isbanioly, who they say confessed to breaking into the home on two separate occasions and taking the copper wiring and tubing.
Isbanioly remains in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $25,000 secured bond. He has previously been convicted of breaking and entering, driving while impaired, communicating threats, larceny and assault on a female.