Woman, man charged with stealing copper from school's AC unit

photo Charissa Frady, 30, is charged with theft of property.
photo Derek Harden, 21, is charged with theft of property.

A woman and a man have been arrested on charges of stealing the copper from air conditioning units at East Lake Elementary School.

Charissa Frady, 30, and Derek Harden, 21, are charged with theft of property in connection with the incident, according to records from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

Hamilton County School officials said the stolen copper was worth about $50 but did between $10,000 and $20,000 in damage to school's air conditioning system.

Because the air conditioning wasn't working, East Lake was forced to let students out at 12:30 p.m. for the first few days of school until repairs were made.

Frady and Harden were picked up Monday and also charged with shoplifting from Walmart and Academy Sports in East Brainerd, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Janice Atkinson said.

In addition, Frady was charged with possessing drugs for resale, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and vandalism/malicious mischief, sheriff's records show.

MORE: Vandalism forces early dismissal at East Lake school

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