Two Men Arrested for Theft from Unoccupied Home

Two Columbia men were in jail Tuesday on charges they stole two home heat pumps outside an unoccupied Lexington home for sale.

Metts said deputies arrested Kettrele Antonio Cooper, 41, of 312 Killian Green Drive, Columbia, and Henry Wren, 44, of 201 Treemount Lane, Columbia, on a charge of grand larceny. Cooper was being held on Tuesday at the Lexington County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond. Wren was being held on Tuesday at the center awaiting a bond hearing.

The two Heil heat pumps, valued at $8,000, were allegedly stolen late Monday morning outside a home on Magnolia Tree Road, said Lexington County Sheriff James Metts. One of the men allegedly was also carrying a list of homes for sale in Lexington, Richland, Kershaw, Sumter and Florence counties.

A citizen contacted the Sheriff’s Department at about 11:58 a.m. on Monday and reported that she saw two men allegedly steal the two heat pumps, Metts said. The citizen told deputies that the two men drove away in a white utility van that had a ladder on top of the vehicle.

Master Deputy Aaron Poole broadcast on his police radio that he saw a white utility van that matched the description of the van involved in the theft of the heat pumps driving on South Lake Drive near Interstate 20 in the Lexington community, Metts said. 

The two men were arrested after a traffic stop, in which deputies said they found the heat pumps under a blue tarp in a rear compartment of the van, along with the list of homes allegedly being carried by Cooper.

Metts asked anyone with information concerning additional criminal activity involving Cooper or Wren to call the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.