Two accused of trying to steal bridge beams

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Saline County Sheriff's Deputies arrested two Marion men accused of trying to steal bridge beams belonging to Tate Township.

Deputies arrested Todd Eric Wall, 30, and Francis Wayne Davis, 34, 7:30 a.m. Sunday on charges of theft over $500 and criminal trespass to land. Their bond was set at $1,500.

At 5:30 a.m. Deputy Mike Casteel was dispatched following a report from turkey hunters Willard, Charles and Wade Richey. The Richeys said they saw a man trying to remove the steel beams from behind a fence on private property on Vantresse Road north of Galatia Road while someone else was asleep nearby in a truck, according to a Saline County Sheriff's report.

Casteel approached the man he later identified as Davis who said he was there to take the steel and was planning to sell it, according to the report.

There were three beams of 12 feet by 36 feet that had been part of an old bridge. The property was that of Parris Jackson who had given permission to Tate Township to store the beams there.

Deputy Jerod Campbell had been at the site the previous day and placed a camera to record trespassers, the report indicates. The camera and welding equipment were in the trailer the Marion men were using, according to the report.