Two Gainesville men were charged Wednesday with theft by taking, criminal damage to property and criminal trespassing after a copper theft at a Jackson EMC substation.

At about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, deputies with the Hall County Sheriff's Office Uniform Patrol Division interrupted a theft in progress at the substation on Cagle Road in East Hall, according to a news release from Sgt. Kiley Sargent. The suspects ran into a wooded area.

Deputies arrested Delaney Van Dyke, 38, and Shannon Whitt, 32, both of Gainesville, who were found walking along Ga. 365 near Whitehall Road.

After questioning the suspects, sheriff's officials said the two had cut through a locked, fenced area of the substation and stolen copper wire valued at more than $500.

The incident remains under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Hall County Sheriff's Office.