Copper Wire Thieves Knock Out Phone and Internet Services for Hundreds of Customers

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Workers with Ziply Fiber are working on repairs Wednesday after cables were cut by copper thieves causing service issues for hundreds of customers.

According to Ziply Fiber, the thefts took place sometime overnight on Tuesday in Kirkland and just east of Redmond. The cut wires have impacted phones, internet and 911 services.

Vice President of Marketing at Ziply Fiber Ryan Luckin said as of Wednesday afternoon, about 350 voice and data customers were affected in Kirkland and about 40 customers were affected in the Redmond area.

On Wednesday, crews were seen making repairs near Juanita Elementary School on NE 132nd Street. They were also seen working on Redmond-Fall City Road NE, near Sahalee Way NE.

“At the moment, we’re seeing two or three cuts a week,” Luckin said. “This is vandalism. This is essentially folks going up and tampering with telephone lines and different types of utilities that are up there and they’re looking for copper. They’re trying to take the copper to go and resell that to put some money in their pocket.”

Luckin said they have seen more incidents of vandalism in Washington this year than they had throughout all of 2023.

Repairing the cut wires in Kirkland and Redmond could take up to 48 hours to complete.

“This one [Redmond area] is more significant because 911 is out for a handful of folks. We’re obviously dealing with really high temps," Luckin said. "When you get out to the edges of our counties you see degraded cell service, so we know that puts residents at risk.”

Luckin said that crews with Ziply Fiber will be working around the clock to restore services to customers.

The cost of the damage and danger to the community significantly outweighs the resale value of the stolen copper.

“This calendar year alone, Ziply Fiber, and we’re not the only ISP (internet service provider) that’s being impacted by this, but we’ve spent well into the six figures when it comes to repairs. Most folks are getting enough so they can get $20-$30 in their pocket. From that standpoint, no, I don’t think that the cost is worth the effort.”

When asked what the thieves are doing with the profits from the stolen copper, Luckin told KOMO News he assumes it's going towards drugs.

King County is a “hotbed” now for these kinds of thefts. Luckin said they are working with local law enforcement agencies. He also said they are asking for the public's help to report any suspicious people who might be tampering with telephone poles.

Luckin said it is also going to come down to accountability for these crimes, not only to prosecute those stealing but also the buyers of the stolen material.

Redmond Fire Department officials told KOMO News that they’re aware of the outages and advise people to use a mobile device for any emergency calls, while repairs are being carried out.

Courtesy: www.komonews.com