A man who allegedly rammed the gate of a Tasmanian Gold site with a stolen loader in an attempt to steal copper cabling has been charged.
The 30-year-old man from St Leonard’s is facing criminal charges for damage, trespass, motor vehicle stealing and attempted stealing following the incident in March.
According to Police, the man is believed to have stolen a front-end loader from Flowery Gully which he then used to forcefully ram the secure gate at the Beaconsfield gold site.
During the attempted break-in, the suspect damaged a 22,000-volt power transformer, which Police at the time estimated to be worth around $1.5 million.
“The offenders have wrapped a chain around the mass of copper cables close to where they attach to the transformer and tried to rip them free using the front-end loader,” Inspector Dean McMahon said in March.
“This caused the transformer to buckle and damage part of the overhead cabling structure.”
Since the incident, power remained off to the site and was only fully restored in June, which cost in excess of $500,000 to repair.
Despite appearing to have made it onto the site, Police say the man didn’t manage to steal anything.
He has since been bailed to appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court on 23 August.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Tasmania Police on 131 444 or report to Crime Stoppers Tasmania on 1800 333 000.
