The Travis County Copper Theft Taskforce says it's seeing a disturbing new trend in our area when it comes to cell phone towers targeted for copper.

On Thursday, detectives issued an arrest warrant for 31 year old Matthew Horvatich for criminal mischief.

Authorities say early Tuesday, December 11, Horvatich and several other people broke into a cell phone tower on Gilbert Road off of Highway 130, a rural part of eastern Travis County.

Once inside, detectives say Horvatich and his crew risked their lives to cut power to the tower.

It's believed the crew used wrenches and ropes to forcibly pull 2,000 feet of copper wiring down from the tower.

The crime knocked out cell phone service to 3 different companies for at least four hours.

The task force says the copper was worth $6,000-$8,000 on the street.

But the damage to the tower well exceeds $80,000 which is why Horvatich is being charged with criminal mischief.

"If you were to drive off the road and injure yourself the only way you're going to get help is through your cell phone and you're not going to have that with these types of suspects knocking out cell towers," said Detective Sidney Parker with the Travis County Sheriff's department.

Authorities believe the same crew may have hit a total of 5 cell phone towers in the central Texas area and a number of towers in Houston.

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The copper theft taskforce is now working with cell phone companies to step up surveillance of their towers.

As of Thursday evening, Matthew Horvatich was not in custody.

Detectives say they are expecting to make more arrests in this case.