WATERLOO — Two Crown City men have been arrested in connection with the theft of nearly 2,000 feet of AT&T telephone cable that interrupted service to Waterloo area residents earlier this week.

Authorities are thanking two area residents for their help in nabbing the pair.

Raymond Rose, 25, of 1229 Davis Road and Dale A. Blake, 26, of 4833 Clay Chapel Road, have each been charged with receiving stolen property.

According to a Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies were alerted Tuesday morning that someone had stolen 1,800 feet of cooper wire overnight. AT&T lineman Phillip Billups told authorities he has contended with several thefts of wiring within the last month in the Waterloo area.

While one deputy was on his way to speak with Billups, a concerned citizen called the sheriff’s office and reported seeing two men burning copper in a field a half-mile from her residence. The woman told authorities her landline service had been interrupted and she had to leave her home and drive to a campsite to get cellular service to call the sheriff’s office.

She and a companion were able to provide a description of the two men as well as their vehicle. She also provided a license plate number. Blake and Rose were apprehended a short time later. Deputies confiscated a burnt cable, cable ready to be stripped and burned as well as various tools from a site off Township Road 189 in Symmes Township.

“The public involvement in this really assisted us,” Sheriff Jeff Lawless said. “Without their help we might still be looking for these individuals.”

Blake and Rose were taken to the Lawrence County Jail.