Two people have been arrested for reportedly stealing internet cable in rural Mississippi, bringing down service to a local airport and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call at approximately 11 a.m. Friday concerning the theft of AT&T internet cables from a location on Powell Road. The cable had been cut and stolen.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said the incident Friday was the second since April 15, which took down the internet to the Natchez-Adams County Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration there.

“We were able to track the suspects using new technology that I do not wish to disclose at this time,” Patten said.

After leaving Powell Road with approximately 143 feet of stolen “twisted pair copper DSL internet lines,” ACSO contacted Jefferson County Sheriff James Bailey and Claiborne County Sheriff Edward Good for assistance. Both sheriffs joined in the search, along with their deputies and Patten and ACSO deputies.

The suspects were tracked to Highway 547 in Claiborne County where they were apprehended.

Arrested were Joshua Peebles, 42, and Tiffany Vickers, 36. Officers recovered the stolen internet lines along with burglary tools used to cut the line. Both suspects were transported to the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office and interviewed by Sheriff Good. Patten said the pair confessed to stealing the internet lines today in Adams County and on April 15 at the same location.

“Both suspects are being charged with felony possession of stolen property in Claiborne County as well as one count of grand larceny and one count of larceny each in Adams County,” Patten said.

More charges may be forthcoming, he said.

“All in all, each theft resulted in approximately $10,000 in damages,” Sheriff Patten said. “I would personally like to thank both sheriffs James Bailey and Edward Good, along with their staff for their prompt assistance with this matter. Without them, the ACSO deputies’ quick response, and Dispatch Supervisor Annette Fells for the excellent job dispatching during this incident, these suspects may have continued on their criminal path of destruction.”