After the arrest of five suspects in three incidents over the weekend, Bulloch County sheriff’s investigators reported a recent spike in metal theft.Incidents of metal theft had lessened in previous months, but that type of crime seems to be on the rise again.“Those numbers (of metal theft incidents) are again rising,” Bulloch County Sheriff Lynn Anderson said. “Since last Friday, two separate groups of metal thieves were taken into custody by deputies acting on tips from citizens. In a third incident, deputies have issued arrest warrants for a Bulloch County resident for the same conduct.”On Friday, a machine shop owner reported thefts from R.C. Machine on Mill Creek Road.