A Lancaster County woman is facing charges after police say she helped steal thousands of dollars worth of copper wire from utility lines in Kidder Township.

Police stopped a Dodge pickup on Route 903 around 2 a.m. July 10 after noticing it parked for several minutes in a remote area near Penn-Kidder Elementary School that is posted against trespassing. When an officer approached, the truck made an illegal U-turn and began driving away at a reduced speed before being pulled over.

Inside the truck were three occupants, including Mary Hilliard, 26, of Christiana. Police said two of the passengers appeared nervous and gave conflicting explanations about why they were in the area. Officers also spotted several 6-foot sections of cut communications wire in the truck bed, along with heavy-duty cutting tools commonly used in metal thefts.

The occupants were found soaking wet, and a search of the vehicle uncovered more cutting tools, flashlights, backpacks and a battery-powered chain saw. Police also recovered suspected methamphetamine, MDMA and buprenorphine from the vehicle.

According to court documents, Hilliard admitted she was involved in stealing the wire. She told police that after members of the group lost money gambling, one of them came up with a plan to make “fast money” by cutting communications wire from telephone poles. Hilliard said the group was removing wire when they spotted a police cruiser and fled.

After the interviews, officers returned to the area where the truck had first been seen and found a large stash of cut copper wire matching the pieces recovered from the vehicle. In total, police recovered about 124 sections of stolen wire. They also found additional cutting tools and clothing believed to have been left behind by the group.

Representatives from Verizon later inspected the scene and estimated the damage to the communications lines at $12,000.

Hilliard is charged with theft, theft of secondary metal, criminal mischief, possessing instruments of crime and defiant trespass.

Charges against the other two people with Hilliard are currently inactive.

She remains in Lancaster County Prison on $25,000 bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 14 before District Judge Richard D. Homanko Sr. in Weatherly.