Man sentenced for cutting phone lines, stealing cameras

QUINCY — A Quincy man who cut phone lines and stole surveillance cameras from a Habitat for Humanity building in Quincy was sentenced to serve three months in jail.

David Rubio, 26, of Quincy, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to second-degree theft (taking, deception, embezzlement and misdelivered property) and second-degree malicious mischief and was sentenced to a total of three months in jail.

In October 2017 the Quincy Police Department received a report from Habitat for Humanity with regard to the phones lines being cut at their Second Avenue location. Police reviewed video surveillance and spotted Rubio and a female approach the building.

“Rubio is seen going below the camera where the wire is cut. A few seconds later Rubio climbs the boxes and electrical harnesses, and the camera is right in his face,” wrote an officer.

Rubio then proceeded to rip the camera from the wall. About 10 minutes later Rubio can be seen ripping two additional cameras down as the woman he was with kept watch. Rubio was located eight days later at a gas station in the 300 block of F Street Southeast in Quincy.

He initially denied taking the cameras but later claimed he cut the phone lines to the building because he thought it would disable the building's alarm as well. He came clean and admitted to taking the three cameras and said he took them because he was homeless and a man offered him $60 and a place to stay “if he took the cameras specifically from Habitat for Humanity.”

Rubio was released from custody after making the statement and contacted again about a month later by police. He told police the cameras were still in the possession of the man who paid him to steal them and he had no idea what he was going to do with them. Police attempted to obtain a search warrant for the man's property in early January but by that time the information “ran cold” and the man was arrested on other crimes and Rubio had skipped town.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.