Pineville man arrested after stolen AT&T lines found in his truck

PINEVILLE, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) — A Pineville man is facing charges after police say he was caught with severed AT&T lines in the back of his pickup truck.

According to the Pineville Police Department, Officer Patrick Brooks stopped to check on a motorist Saturday evening around 5:50 p.m. on July 19, 2025. The driver, identified as 55-year-old David Gambrel, was standing next to a 2010 Ford Ranger when Brooks noticed multiple cut AT&T lines loaded in the bed of the truck.

Police say those lines had been reported to Kentucky State Police earlier that morning as having been cut.

Gambrel was arrested and taken to the Bell County Detention Center. He is charged with first-degree criminal mischief for tampering with key infrastructure assets.

According to the officer’s citation, Gambrel “intentionally or wantonly damaged, possessed, or tampered with the operation of a key infrastructure asset … in a manner that renders the asset inoperable, in whole or part, or renders the operation of the asset harmful or dangerous.”