Brad Alan Hodge, 34, of Grangerland set off several alarms last Friday when he rode his bicycle to the Montgomery County Hospital District’s transmitter tower site. He was seen on cameras that monitor CISD schools. Montgomery County deputies were dispatched to the area but were initially unable to locate him.
Just before 9 a.m., another alarm was tripped followed by a fence entry alarm. Deputies responded to the area again and found several cut locks and evidence suggesting the suspect had tried to make entry through the roof of a transmitter building on site. The suspect was not yet found but deputies were supplied with clear camera footage and were able to follow a bicycle trail to a subdivision off FM 3083.
Other deputies maintained a perimeter around the wooded area when one of them noticed a vehicle on Grangerland Road occupied by a male and female. The male was wearing the same clothes as in the footage and was wet. The deputy recovered bolt cutters and an electricians amp meter from the vehicle. The female was released, but Hodge was taken into custody where he is currently being held in the Montgomery County Jail with no bond on charges of Theft of Material Copper/Aluminum/Bronze/Brass less than $20,000. He was also charged with Criminal Mischief Impair or Interrupt Public Service.
Communications workers spent the remainder of the day repairing cut fences and cut cables and grounding wires on the transmitter site.
