King County Prosecutors are warning home and business owners that they are easy burglary targets.
It may not be in the way you would think. Officials say thieves are after copper wire at an alarming rate.
They tell us this kind of theft is impacting homes, businesses, highway streetlights, 911 communications, and even entire light rail services. Experts say these services are constantly cut off because someone is trying to get a quick copper wire cash grab.
In a recent King County case in February, KCSO Sgt. Earl Serrat was called to the Ravensdale power substation after a security guard saw a man digging under the fence line.
As the video unfolds, you can see Sgt. Serrat find the man in the distance, arrest him, and then search his pockets, where he finds wire cutters.
Serrat says the man tried to steal about 250ft of copper wire from a loose spool on the ground. Thankfully, that wire wasn’t connected to the infrastructure of the power station.
I reached out to Bonneville Power for a comment on the burglary, they sent a statement saying “We appreciate the quick and thorough response of local law enforcement to this situation.”
King County Prosecutors say the man was arrested for felony burglary. They tell us he has faced charges for similar burglaries before.
Prosecutor Gary Ernsdorff tells us these crimes are an issue because of how much infrastructure is impacted.
In an interview with KIRO Radio, Sound Transit says the new Federal Way light rail extension has been hit by copper wire thieves at least three times since it opened in December.
The West Seattle and Aurora Bridges are also struggling with copper theft. Both bridges are often left at least partially in the dark because the power to the streetlights was cut.
King County 911 services have also been a victim of copper thieves as well.
“It’s happening almost every day of the week right, it’s definitely a weekly basis,” Serrat said.
So far this year, KCSO is investigating 31 reports of copper wire theft, while last year they took on a whopping 241 cases total.
The legislation that could have helped solve that problem died this session.
The bill would have required metal recyclers to photograph wire purchases, upload records to a searchable statewide database, and hold materials long enough for law enforcement to investigate.
“So unfortunately, the word for our community and our communications industry is: Sorry, you’ve got to wait for another year. And we’ll be back with the same bill, maybe some small tweaks to it, but largely the same bill next year,” Ernsdorff said.
Deputies say the best way to avoid being a copper theft victim is to put up good fencing and security cameras to deter thieves from hitting your property.
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