Game wardens, deputies on hunt

Published 5:49 pm Friday, January 25, 2013

Game wardens may not have been responding to a Bigfoot sighting Friday — despite some social media rumors to the contrary — but what they did find led to the arrest of two Brewton residents.

Escambia County Sheriff Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said a tip from hunters to officers with the Alabama Wildlife and Fisheries Law Enforcement suggested two suspects may have been involved in a poaching situation on U.S. 41 north.

“Once the game wardens began their investigation, they found evidence that copper theft was the issue and not poaching,” Lambert said. ‘We went to the scene and our investigation revealed that copper wiring appeared to have been taken from power poles, ground lines and even some telephone lines in the area.”

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Arrested were Adam Buckley, 34, and Elizabeth Nichols, 22. Both suspects were charged with first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree theft of property.

Lambert said the area where the incident occurred was near the AT&T towers located on U.S. 41 North of Brewton.

Rumors had been circulating through social media Friday that forestry service employees, sheriff’s deputies, game wardens and other law enforcement officers were in the area being searched in response to a sighting of the infamous Bigfoot.

Needless to say, the rumors turned out to be false.