PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — An employee with the School District of Palm Beach County faces multiple charges after thousands of dollars worth of copper was reportedly stolen at multiple schools, police said.
The arrest comes after WPTV reported this month that at least three schools had copper wire stolen from their scoreboards.
WATCH BELOW: Thieves targeting school scoreboards in Palm Beach County
Michael A. Falcone, an electrician with the district, was arrested Tuesday after police said he had been selling a "large quantity" of copper wiring and brass to a local scrapyard.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the school district has lost an estimated $779,000 worth of copper wire after 20 schools were burglarized in the last two years. Police said wire was stolen from multiple light poles and electrical boxes.
When school district police learned that Falcone was a suspect in the case, an officer went to Palm Beach Metal Recycling, located at 7796 Belvedere Road near West Palm Beach, and learned that "Falcone had been selling [a] large quantity of copper wire material consistently each month between July 2024 to January 2025."
Investigators said they reviewed transaction records and discovered Falcone sold about $4,000 worth of scrap material during that time, selling materials about a week after most of the burglaries occurred on school campuses.
The affidavit said 18 separate copper thefts reported by the school district occurred in six months from July 8, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2025.
According to the arrest report, an employee of the scrapyard gave police "several photos" of Falcone wearing a blue Palm Beach County School District-issued uniform with a school district badge around his neck and the copper wire materials that he sold. The affidavit said Falcone was also driving a school district vehicle when he sold the materials.
Police later interviewed a school district facilities manager and showed him pictures of the stolen scrap material that Falcone is accused of selling. The manager said the wiring was consistent with materials that are installed in light poles around school district parking lots and athletic fields.
"The way the wire is coiled up would indicate that the wire had been pulled from light poles of a parking lot," the affidavit said.
The manager also told police that Falcone was hired by the school district full-time in March 2024 after working as a temporary employee for eight months.
During the investigation, the manager explained to the police how the thefts may have occurred, saying "someone who is familiar with a campus could enter the electrical room and cut the main feed."
The report also stated that some wires were cut while the lights were on, indicating that whoever cut them "must have experience in electrical work ... to prevent themselves from getting electrocuted."
Also, no school employee can remove scrap metal for personal monetary gain, the manager told police.
Police reported that when they arrived at Falcone's Boynton Beach home on Tuesday afternoon, he told officers, "I know why you're here ... because I stole copper from the schools."
Falcone faces multiple charges including burglary, damaging property, larceny and fraud.
It's unclear if police are looking for other suspects in the campus copper thefts in the last two years.
Online court records show that he posted $30,000 bail and was released from jail Wednesday evening.
