Recycling Centers on High Alert as Copper Thefts Surge Across Salt Lake Valley

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): South Jordan police arrested two people for allegedly stealing copper wire out of light poles Wednesday morning. It's their second and third copper theft arrest this month, and it's something that's happening all over the Salt Lake Valley.

They were caught in the act, but sometimes thieves get away.

Recycling centers like “Utah Metal Works” are always keeping an eye out to try and help catch them.

"All this type of wire has some component of copper in it,” said UMW owner Chris Lewon as he picked up piles of phone lines, computer cables, power cables, and even Christmas lights.

Lewon is the third-generation owner of UMW, and he knows all about copper thefts.

 "Copper has been at relatively high levels for over 20 years now,” he said.

Recyclers like Lewon are always on the lookout for illegitimate sales and are working with law enforcement to catch bad actors.

State law mandates they take IDs and they try to film transactions in case someone with bad intentions comes along.

2news asked him how tough it is to identify what’s legitimate and what might not be.

“Unfortunately, sometimes that is tough,” he said.

Lewon said wiring is used in everything, so it's difficult to tell where it came from. Especially if the insulation has been removed.

"Copper looks like copper anywhere it's mined in the world,” Lewon said.

The two people in South Jordan had already caused nearly $3000 in damages by the time they were noticed.

Back in November, copper wire thieves caused more than ten times that in Sandy.

"Someone knew what they were doing,” said Sgt. Greg Moffitt with Sandy Police.

Nearly 20,000 feet of wire out of light poles were pulled, which caused more than $35,000 in damages.

The people involved in the incident still haven’t been located.

"It was pretty significant,” Moffitt said.

Moffitt said they might see copper thefts a couple times a month.

"They generally come in these ebbs and these flows, and a lot of it is based on what we have going on in the city,” he said. “So any time we have any major construction areas, those are the ones that tend to be hit."

Moffitt said adding any kind of barrier or obstacle helps keep some thieves away.

Courtesy: www.kmyu.tv