TUKWILA, Wash. — Two suspects were arrested after trying to steal around 300 feet of copper wire near the Westfield Southcenter shopping mall in Tukwila on Friday, February 21.
According to Tukwila PD, 911 callers saw the two in the vicinity of an open manhole cover stealing cable. Once police arrived, they were told the suspects had ridden away on bicycles after being confronted by a witness.
Officers found the two suspects, a man and a woman, at a bus stop along Southcenter Boulevard. While investigating, officers learned that the woman had pulled approximately 300 feet of cable out of the conduit in the manhole. The man was holding bolt cutters, and officers found that the cable had been cut.
Police say the woman was arrested and booked for malicious mischief (property damage) and attempted theft. The man was booked on the same, as well as a Tukwila domestic violence warrant.
Tukwila Police Department added the following directions for community members who might want to help stop this crime:
How Can You Help Stop This?
Wire theft has been an ongoing issue in our area. These thefts have resulted in cable/internet outages that have impacted our 911 operation system, power outages for residents and damage to city infrastructure. It also costs thousands to repair the damage between the cost of materials, time for crews to come out and fix the damage and loss of business due to power/internet being unavailable.
City Public Works employees drive marked City of Tukwila trucks and vehicles. They also typically wear bright colored safety vests. Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light also drive marked vehicles and wear the same bright colored safety vests. If you see individuals messing with wire, cable boxes, light poles or other infrastructure or leaving construction sites with handfuls of wire without marked vehicles or any kind of safety helmets, safety equipment or other markings to indicate that they are official employees, please feel to call 9-1-1 to report it.
Another red flag that is often encountered is individuals stripping wire in cars and or RV’s on the side of the road. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to be in possession of hundreds of feet of commercial grade wire sitting in a car or RV on the side of the road, stripping the wire and tossing the wire casings out the window. This has happened fairly frequently and has led to officers recovering stolen wire and making arrests thanks to passerby’s reporting the behavior.
The bottom line….If it looks sketchy/suspicious, please call it in to us and report it.
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