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Alex Lane, assistant superindent for the Lewis County PUD, inspects a pole damaged by copper thieves along Westside Highway in northern Cowlitz County on Wednesday. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News

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Task force targets metal theft as crimes grow more brazen

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 11:44 PM PDT

By Tony Lystra

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The thieves descend on dark, rural roads in the early morning hours. They throw ropes over power poles, hook the other end to their trucks and drive away, yanking down foot after foot of copper wire. Lights in houses go dark. Public utility crews are scrambled. And live wires hang limp, waiting to electrocute an unsuspecting passerby.

With copper prices skyrocketing, metal thieves have increasingly turned their attention to power poles in Lewis and Cowlitz counties. Utility and law enforcement officials are struggling to keep up with the damage. And, in Lewis County, the problem has gotten so bad, the sheriff’s office formed a task force last month to stop the thieves. The agency said it’s investigated 49 metal theft cases this year, most of them in the last few months.

“This has got people’s hackles up,” Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield said last week. “It’s an emerging problem.... We’re scrambling to find some answers for what to do with this.”

The thieves have cut down flag poles, Mansfield said. They’re rolling under cars in parking lots and hacking out catalytic converters with electric saws. And, in what officials consider a particularly grotesque afront, they’re even snatching up plaques and urns from cemeteries. (It was reported this week that someone stole eight bronze veterans’ grave markers, some nearly 100 years old, from a Vader cemetery.)

But perhaps the most brazen and dangerous attacks have been aimed at the counties’ utilities. Jim Day, the superintendent of the Lewis County PUD, who has worked for the utility for more than three decades, said he’s never seen the theft problem so bad.

“They’ve gotten braver and braver,” he said. “It’s clearly out of control.”

Thieves, he said, have stolen 75,000 feet or 14 miles of wire over the last six months. The cost to replace it: $200,000.

Last week, the Cowlitz County PUD finished replacing so-called “pole grounds” which run from the tops of poles to the earth and help to ground the electrical current. Crews had to replace them on 16,000 of Cowlitz PUD’s 22,000 poles, said Monte Roden, the PUD’s director of operations. PUD spokesman Dave Andrew said that all of the replacements were the result of damage or losses from theft. The project, which cost $238,000, took more than a year, Roden said. The wire, he said, was replaced with a different material that is hard to cut and of little value to scrappers.

Roden said Wednesday that he had thought the problem was abating in May. But then the lines started going down again.

In late May and early June, thieves struck Cowlitz PUD’s poles three times near the Lewis County line just north of Castle Rock, Andrew said. In the first of that string of thefts, 30 homes lost power, he said. It cost $10,000 to repair the damage from all three incidents.

“It seems like as soon as you think things are getting better and you’re turning the corner, another rash of thefts come up,” Roden said.

Mansfield, the Lewis County Sheriff, said last week that his task force includes about four detectives who will devote a portion of their time to investigating the thefts.

“We need a group of people that are specifically focused on this on a daily basis,” he said. “What we’re going to do is turn up the heat.”

Mansfield said the task force has also asked the Lewis County PUD to change its policy of calling crews right away after a reported attack on power lines. Instead, he said, the sheriff’s office wants to be called in first, so it can keep people away from the downed wires and get a better crack at catching the perpetrators.

The team made its first arrest, a Kelso couple accused of yanking 800 feet of ground wire from the Glenoma County Park, early last month.

Officials have long attributed the problem to the drug trade. In Lewis County, an organized crew may be working the area, Mansfield said. Some of the thefts, he suggested, may have been perpetrated by usually legitimate metal collectors who have decided to “live on the fringes of the law a little bit.”

Scrap yards throughout the state and in Oregon are now required to check sellers’ identifications. Mansfield said he hopes that will help. Still, he said he worries that some scrap yards may be skirting the rules.

What’s sure is that rising copper prices are driving the increase in thefts.

“The metals market has exploded,” Mansfield said. “It’s just a standard economic formula.”

Waste Control, which accepts scrap in Longview, said copper wire was selling for $2.95 a pound Wednesday. That’s triple the price it fetched four years ago, said Rolly Ensign, the local plant manager.

The potential payoff has driven people to take tremendous risks, officials in both counties said. The downed lines that linger long after the thieves have left are a danger to children, livestock and PUD crews, they said.

The thieves are tossing ropes over one particular line on utility poles that doesn’t usually carry a lot of electrical current, PUD and law enforcement representatives said. But that doesn’t mean they can’t get electrocuted.

“You only have to be off a couple of feet when you throw that thing,” said Steve Aust, a Lewis County patrol commander who heads the task force. “If you pick the wrong one, you’re toast.”

Roden, of the Cowlitz County PUD, said he’s worked on the lines for more than three decades and even he wouldn’t try this stunt.

“These guys, in my mind, they’re taking their life into their own hands,” he said. “What a risk for a few bucks.”

cheney119 wrote on Jul 3, 2008 7:14 AM:

" Its an emerging problem.... Were scrambling to find some answers for what to do with this. Man tell us something we don't know. Oregon needs to increase penalties. We need to crack down on the recyclers. Who would recycle a grave marker? The recycler who takes it is a criminal too, on its face. "

Kelso Mom wrote on Jul 3, 2008 7:48 AM:

" Something HAS to be done but what? With all this thieving going on it's us, the "good" hard working people who are paying for it. Somebody somewhere has to have a plan to help stop this. "

jessizmomma wrote on Jul 3, 2008 8:31 AM:

" I had this friend who got tired of his cats sleeping on his car and got tired of his dog urinating on his tires. So he hooked his car up to a NON lethal electric fence. I wonder if these theives would still be interested if the wire they touch gave them a slightly more forceful zap? "

no one wrote on Jul 3, 2008 8:31 AM:

" Hold the recyclers accountable. Inspect what they are accepting and require them to be able to show where and who it came from. They know they are receiving stolen goods much of the time. "

Carsick wrote on Jul 3, 2008 9:15 AM:

" I don't envy the employees at Waste Control who have to deal with endless lines of suspicious looking people with metal to sell day after day. They can't possibly know who's legit and who has stolen metal every time. The police should focus their efforts on making it harder for the bad guys to sell what they've stolen, and put harsher penalties in effect so they have jail time to look forward to when they're caught. "

Rural Citizen wrote on Jul 3, 2008 9:34 AM:

" Why don't you put your sheriff's officers on the SCRAP YARDS for buying the stuff, and put a bounty on the thieves, knowing that cutting power to people can and does endanger lives, elderly need their temperature controlled air and patients need their oxygen. Everyone needs water and our wells use electricity to pump.

I say get the men in the community out there at night with air rifles, cell phones, and in groups large enough to catch these guys and take them down and hold them for the sheriff, who should be staging a bust at the scrap yard.

In the old days after WWII, this is the way crime was held down. When you cede 100% of the law enforcement to police, then you can't afford to field police, hyou have lost control of your community.

Simple, cede some power back to the people. We know how to handle these guys. "

Louie wrote on Jul 3, 2008 9:39 AM:

" I agree that the place to stop it is at the recyclers. It would be cheaper to police the recyclers than for counties to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars replacing stolen materials. You are never going to stop the druggies from stealing unless you legalize drugs. This would solve so many problems; drug czars, illegal transport coming from Mexico and Colombia and elsewhere, not to mention the money we would save on the win-less war on drugs. Make them affordable and let them kill themselves. They are a bane on society. "

LongviewRez wrote on Jul 3, 2008 9:40 AM:

" I agree. The people paying money for this stuff (obviously not your common recycling material) are just as responsible for the ongoing problem as the thieves. I don't know why the police haven't cracked down on them yet? Is there a problem trying to enforce this? "

l-town mom wrote on Jul 3, 2008 9:58 AM:

" Although not a cure-all, the same way the law has cracked down on the sale of pseudophedrine should be implemented. Not only should the metal collectors just check the ID of those trying to exchange, the customer should have to sign their name, give an address, and give their license number to make a transaction. Just a thought. "

cadillaccreepin' wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:02 AM:

" forget drugs im stealing wire for gas money "

gkalio wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:05 AM:

" Damn Blue Collerd Tweekers are running this here town! "

Plato wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:16 AM:

" Digital camera pictures of the seller and the material sold to scrappers and recyclers along with id pictures and required addresses all stored on a hard drive would be a way to combat this problem. It's affordable and doable so why isn't it required? "

fraidykatt wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:34 AM:

" They do hold the recycling facilities accountable but the theives have come up with ways to get around the policies put in place to prevent buying stolen metal. They'll often sell off some of the metal to other scrappers or to legit scrappers who have a good rep with the facility. The'll cut it up to look like scrap. They'll make you leave a contact phone number to verify where you got it but that number could be their buddy on the other end. Metal is metal and there is no true way to identify the source. My problem is when I went to recycle legit scrap and I got the third degree while this toothless tweeker dressed in p.j. bottoms pulls up and throws his stuff on the scale no questions asked because they know him on a first name basis from showing up every other day. There are some big holes in the system that's for sure. Waste control is the most popular recycler but there are other places to recycle and probably a few shady businesses that will buy it up and resell the metal. Much like money laundering, I'm sure there is plenty of metal laundering in these parts. "

fraidykatt wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:38 AM:

" Plato: If you've ever recycled metal you'd know they already have a photo copy of the seller's driver's license, mailing address, phone number, license plate number, year and make of the vehicle, and require you to tell them of the source of the metal. "

imho wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:40 AM:

" In the county in which I reside they mail you the check if the amount is over a certain amount (it is extremely low). My husband was just there a few weeks ago. They wrote down all his ID information and then mailed a check that we received just a few days ago. His payout was $75. Wonder why this can't be implemented there. "

kitten wrote on Jul 3, 2008 11:00 AM:

" I still say there is an easy answer to any metal theft involving communications or transportation. It is called terrorism and I do believe that our government deals with it quite harshly. Why spend anymore money on figuring out how to deal with this problem? If you are caught messing with the intrastructure of
America, you are a terrorist, plain and simple. "

somedude wrote on Jul 3, 2008 11:38 AM:

" I say we rig the powerlines in just a certin manner that it shocks the Holy living bejesus out of them causing the would be theif to wet and soil themselves and incapacitating the theif/crackheads at the same time sending an electrical pulse signal to the PUD and The Police letting them know where the theft is taking place. Yet we must still have a safe way for the PUD to work on the powerlines when needed. Everyone get that? "

TDN Bad Boy wrote on Jul 3, 2008 12:33 PM:

" Here are few ideas: Fingerprinting and background checks. Since this is a drug-related crime -- drug testing. A 30-60 day wait for funds. Require photos of person or persons selling the metals as part of record paperwork. Require a photo of where the metal came from be turned in with the metals at the recycler for paper record. Require a permit in order to sell to a recycler. Or make it mandatory that paperwork be filed of intent to sell copper or bronze to recyler 10 days in advance of the deal. Make it mandatory that all paper work concerning recycling worth over say $25 of copper and/or bronze be submitted to the county for accuracy verification before funds can be released. Make it mandatory that funds transactions take place at the Hall of Justice. There are so many ways to combat this that haven't even been tried. If a citizen can give those kinds of ideas in 10 minutes how come a "brilliant" crime-fighting Liberal Demoncrat legislator like Dean Takko can't even offer one idea in a 100-day or so Legislative session? Makes me wonder why we keep useless junk like that in office. "

GR8 Ant wrote on Jul 3, 2008 12:55 PM:

" My husband is an electrician. As a way to make a little extra him and his co-workers recycle the scrap wire from the job site. We live here in Longview, when you turn in metal here...you don't get a check right away...they mail it. But when they are on a job site in Portland...they take it down there...no wait. Seems like sending a check might help a little. Those stupid tweekers are making it hard for the ligitimate guys!!! "

MOMAUF6 wrote on Jul 3, 2008 12:57 PM:

" NOT EVERYONE IS A DRUG ADDICT THAT TURNS IN SCRAP METAL , MY HUSBAND MAKES 28 AND HOUR AND WE STILL LIVE PAY DAY TO PAY DAY.. SO ITS NICE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A WA TO MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY..
WE ARE ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH SOME OF THE EMPLOYEE'S AND THEY HAVE EVEN BEEN OVER TO OUR HOME FOR DINNER. BUT THEY STILL REQUIRE US TO FILL OUT ALL THE FORMS AND TAKE OUR INFO. AND THATS FINE BECAUSE WE ARE NO TRYING TO HIDE ANYTHING .. I GETR EAL TIRED OF SEING ALL THESE POEPLE THAT COME IN THERE AND THEY COMPLAINE ABOUT THE RULES , WELL IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE THEN IT SHOULDNT BE A PROBLEM .. NOW SHOULD IT? "

Kay English wrote on Jul 3, 2008 1:23 PM:

" Like the terrorism punishment idea. Maybe lock them up in one of those FEMA containment centers - this would include the guilty buyers as well - they are probably getting their cut in some way, if not money. I wonder how they would like to be locked up with tweekers deprived of their meth? Louie: if drugs were legal, druggies would still have to steal to get them. Unless you think the government should just hand them out for free? "

country gal wrote on Jul 3, 2008 1:51 PM:

" I agree with Louie in legalizing drugs. You can spend thousands of dollars on technologies to try to catch these thieves. The more you spend the more challenging it is for them. That's their thrill. I'm all for legalizing drugs. If there's a petition, I'm ready to sign it. "

TwentySomething wrote on Jul 3, 2008 1:58 PM:

" Louie--Thanks for the laughs! Making brain-killing drugs legal will NOT stop tweekers from stealing to fund their habits. Tobacco and alcohol are legal, but that doesn't stop people from selling their food stamps and stealing to pay for them. The difference is, that alcoholics and tobacco-addicts will still have brain function when they aren't using. Meth-heads will not. You can't expect people with permanently impared grey-matter to make rational and safe decisions. "

Louie wrote on Jul 3, 2008 2:22 PM:

" I have no idea what the cost of manufacturing meth is but it can't be a fortune simply because of the ingredients. Legalize, make the drugs affordable and then many of them will simply overdose and eventually...no more problem! They already are on the way to the grave because we all know meth use is a death sentence.
Is the demand so high for recyclable metals that people need to be paid for it. Why not just quit paying for it unless the recyclers have a business license with a hefty fee payable on a yearly basis. Anyone in business has to have a license in Washington and also pay B & O taxes. Why can't these same criteria apply to the recycling business?
Glad to brighten your day with a laugh in any event!
Happy 4th of July all. "

bdha wrote on Jul 3, 2008 3:19 PM:

" goverment control the recycling business "

Commenter wrote on Jul 3, 2008 5:16 PM:

" Why not put together a task force like Lewis County? Track who is doing the recycling. After time you should see some repeats. Let the task force investigate the repeats. Sure, some of the repeats are legit, like the electrician above, but it will help catch a lot of repeats that aren't legit. Unless they're in that type of business, it seems rather suspicious that these people would be on a first name basis because they recycle so much. MESSAGE TO THE METAL THIEVES: Stop stealing from schools and power lines, just go to Oaks Trailer Park and start dismantling trailers there. Police can just stake out the place there. Kill two birds with one stone, park is cleaned out, thieves are caught. "

Dyl's Mom wrote on Jul 3, 2008 8:21 PM:

" To the tweakers who stole my son's teeter totter. I hope it was worth the couple of bucks at the recycle bin. I had to special order that for my boy out of a catalog. He has autism. Thanks! "

norsky wrote on Jul 4, 2008 6:38 AM:

" FIRST WE MUST START AT THE TOP,NO MAKE THAT SECOND FROM THE TOP,THE PEOPLE THAT IS YOU AND I, DEMAND LAWS THAT STARTING WITH THE MEDAL DEALER, PHOTO ALL SELLERS, WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM ORIGENAL OWNER THEY HAD PERMISSION TO SELL THIS SCRAP, WITH PHONE #'S..
REMEMBER THIS IS THE PEOPLE DEMAND. THEN ELECT PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT GUTLESS AS THE ONES WHO PASS LAWS NOW,LIKE THE CELL PHONE LAW, HOW WORTHLESS THIS LAW IS.. "

Caddyshack wrote on Jul 4, 2008 12:59 PM:

" The ground wire theft the PUDs report is from meth addicts making a quick hit for that day's fix. But you are missing the boat if you think these guys pulling down the heavy overhead power and phone lines are tweekers. These are obviously organized criminals who know the difference between a hot line and the neutral. They seem to have the right tools and skills and move in and out fast. I bet once this copper is stolen, it is transported through several hands and out of the country within a couple of days. I'd like to see the feds get involved. "

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