KINGSTON, N.H. (AP) – Two men and a woman accused of stealing copper piping from several construction sites were arrested after a police officer spotted them in his driveway.

Cpl. Scott Peltier was on patrol Thursday night when he saw the trio apparently trying to break into his home. He arrested the woman but the two men ran off. By the time they were found an hour and a half later at an RV park, eight police departments and two police dogs had joined the search.

Angela Beckford, 24, and Scott Fisher, 28, of Portsmouth, and Ryan Crosby, 26, of Seabrook, face numerous felony charges.

Beckford was charged with criminal trespassing and attempted theft. Fisher was charged with burglary, prowling, possession of burglary tools and resisting arrest. Crosby was charged with burglary, prowling, conspiring and resisting arrest.

Police said the suspects had an atlas of southern New Hampshire in their car marked to show large construction projections in the seacoast region.

Copper thefts are on the rise as the price of the semiprecious metal has doubled to $3.50 per pound. EAD Motors in Dover was hit multiple times earlier this year. In April, thieves also entered a garage door and stole copper tubing from a house under construction in Dover.

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