Wire thieves cause expensive headache on Macon-Bibb interstates

Once in each of the past three years, Macon-Bibb County workers have found copper wiring stripped from a long line of lights on or near Interstates 16 and 75.

Each of the thefts has taken lots of work and thousands of dollars to repair.

This year, however, the problem has intensified. On four different times, work crews found wire cut and stolen.

“They go into just about every fixture on the northbound and southbound lanes, between the (I-16/75) interchange and Pierce Avenue,” said Frank Wellborn, electrical service manager for the Facilities Management Department. The biggest theft came Aug. 12, when someone hit the lights at the 16/75 interchange, getting away with 25,000 feet of copper wiring, according to city records.

A four-person crew has needed months this year to fix the damage, said Gene Simonds, Facilities Management director. The wires connecting highway light poles run in 2-inch underground conduits; that makes them easy to fix, but also easy to steal from, he said. Thieves unscrew or pry off a metal plate on the pole base, snip the wires and yank out yards, putting long stretches of lights out of service quickly.

The four incidents this year, along with three more since December 2011, have cost $52,751 just to replace the wire and connectors, Simonds said. Counting labor and equipment, the total cost probably is about $100,000.

“This is all at our taxpayers’ expense,” Simonds said. But it’s not just money. The loss of lights also creates a road hazard, he said.

All of the thefts are unsolved so far, but the latest -- Oct. 27, when 2,060 feet of wire was stolen from Middle Street, near I-75 and Hardeman Avenue -- may change that.

“There is one suspect in custody up in Marietta, Georgia, and there is a warrant for the one responsible for the most recent theft, according to the one in custody,” said Lt. Sean DeFoe, spokesman for the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Both will be charged with third-degree theft by taking and third-degree criminal damage, he said.

The suspect in custody, whose name wasn’t immediately available, described the theft procedure in detail, DeFoe said. He told investigators that one person would act as a lookout while another would break into a pole base, cut the wire, tie it to a vehicle with rope, and yank out yards of copper. Then they’d go into nearby woods, out of sight, to roll up the haul, DeFoe said.

Twice, law enforcement officers actually stopped to question them, DeFoe said. The suspect said they’d pose as stranded motorists. Now, DeFoe said, deputies are told they need to check such claims by looking at nearby lights for evidence of tampering.

So far the arrestee and person sought are only suspects in the latest theft, but they’ll be questioned about earlier ones as well, DeFoe said.

“They’ve hit several other areas,” DeFoe said.

Simonds said thieves have evaded several attempts at deterrence, such as prying off metal plates secured with supposedly tamper-proof bolts. Nor have they fallen victim to live wires.

“The culprits know what they’re doing,” Simonds said. “They must be well-versed in what they’re doing to our circuitry.”

Copper wiring gets stolen from highway lights almost as fast as workers can put it in, Wellborn said. Prices vary, but thieves can usually get $2.17 to $2.74 per pound for it, depending on whether it’s still covered with insulation, said Earnest Queen, deputy director of Facilities Management.

But that’s changing.

“In these circuits, we are now installing aluminum to hopefully deter theft,” Simonds said.

Queen said aluminum wire will only net thieves 50 cents to 85 cents per pound – beneath the threshold of what they consider worth stealing.

So far it’s working, Wellborn said. On First and Hardeman Avenues, would-be thieves have broken into fixtures several times but didn’t bother to pull the wire out when they saw it was aluminum. They still cut the wires, but that’s much easier and cheaper to fix, the said.

Even so, repair crews and law enforcement need all the help they can get from area residents in spotting thieves, Simonds said. Travelers should report suspicious sights on or near highways, such as vehicles stopped on weekend nights, trucks or cars with open trunks, or anyone carrying something toward a vehicle on the roadside, he said.

Deputies always want to help anyone actually stranded but also are on the lookout for metal thieves, DeFoe said.

“If you see a stranded motorist, period, you should contact the sheriff’s office,” he said. In Macon-Bibb County, that number is 751-7500.

A task force of recycling companies has worked hard on preventing the sale of stolen metal, DeFoe said.

Frank Goulding, vice president of marketing for Newell Recycling Southeast, said he wasn’t aware of the interstate wire thefts, but recyclers do get alerts on such incidents through their national association’s website.

“Law enforcement can post on that alert, and it goes out to recyclers in the general vicinity of where the theft occurred,” he said. Buyers can call police if items they suspect are stolen come in, Goulding said.

Stricter laws from 2008 and 2012 on documenting and tracking metal purchases have led to a “dramatic” drop in thefts of air-conditioner coils and Georgia Power wires, he said. Now recyclers have to keep detailed records for two years on every purchase. Coming soon is a new statewide database of metal purchases that will be available to law enforcement, he said.

“Since we’ve taken new measures, we have seen a reduction in the amount of metal theft,” Goulding said.

To contact writer Jim Gaines, call 744-4489.

This story was originally published November 11, 2014 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Wire thieves cause expensive headache on Macon-Bibb interstates ."