BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge Police have arrested several members of a family and accused them of stealing copper wire, welding machines and other items from a handful of area businesses. An affidavit says one of the defendants told an acquaintance to destroy evidence.

Dereck Sanders, 29; Ammony Sanders, 20; Ahmi Grant, 19; and Carey Sanders, 36; were named in theft charges filed after incidents in January. They, along with Jonathan Sanders, 25; Morlena Sanders, 43; and Adrian Grant, 24; face charges from alleged crimes in December. 

On Christmas Eve last year, BRPD was notified regarding a burglary in which video surveillance showed four individuals using a forklift to steal scrap copper from Southern Recycling. The material was valued at $52,000. 

On Jan. 20, officers were informed that a suspect questioned about similar burglaries in which copper was stolen, admitted to that crime, and then mentioned the Christmas Eve burglary at Southern Recycling. 

The suspect told police the next day that an uncle was the mastermind behind the burglaries and enticed the family with money to commit the crimes. The suspect also mentioned that his uncle lives close to Southern Recycling off 72nd Ave. 

When asked about the robbery on Dec. 24, officers said the suspect admitted that he and his family members broke into Southern Recycling and committed the theft. Upon being shown the video of the burglary, the suspect allegedly identified three of the four masked individuals.

Police said that Dereck Sanders appeared nervous during his interrogation when investigators showed him pictures of his pickup truck at the scene of a burglary at Rigid Constructors LLC on Old Scenic Highway. The company was missing two generators and a set of tools. 

Dereck Sanders, they said, "began to tremble before identifying his truck from the photographs," an affidavit said, before telling police that he had let two of his nephews use his truck.

"He had allowed them to use his truck several times and they had even brought back tools, power tools and copper to his residence that he believed was stolen," police said. Sanders said one of the suspects looked like him, "but it wasn't."

The affidavit said that, after Dereck Sanders was held at the prison, he made a telephone call and asked an acquaintance to remove items from his cell phone.

"Hey you got my phone by ya. Go in there and delete everything. Ya heard me delete everything. I talked to the investigators. I told them the boys took my truck. Make sure you do that for me. Make sure everything is good. Ya know what to do," Sanders said, according to the arresting officers.