Police Report Series of Copper Wire Thefts

The City has experienced a rash of copper wire theft incidents this month in the 1100 block of Huntington Drive, the 1500 block of Beech Street and the 1700 block of Fletcher Ave, police report. 

Although the occurrences of copper wire theft have increased in many communities, Police say South Pasadena has been relatively immune of such incidents until recently. In each case, the culprits have opened pullboxes in the sidewalk to cut and pull the copper wire from the streetlight conduit. This wire is then sold to scrap metal dealers for a small profit, according to police. 

Because these incidents can occur within a matter of about 15 minutes, residents are asked to be extra vigilant in observing and reporting any unusual behavior observed in their neighborhoods, as well as any streetlight outages. Police say to also be aware that City or Southern California Edison personnel will always be wearing uniforms with proper identification; they will not be doing any work outside of regular business hours. 

Any unusual activity should be reported to the at (626) 403-7270.