Pacific Power Offers $3,000 Cash Reward to Catch Wire Thieves
March 01, 2010
YAKIMA, Wash. – Pacific Power, working with Yakima area law enforcement officials, is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of individuals responsible for a series of wire thefts that have occurred since the first of the year.
“This is a serious problem and we are taking aggressive action to stop it,” said Bill Eaquinto, vice president of operations for Pacific Power. “These thefts put our crews at risk as they go about their work on the local power grid, add a financial burden to the system and inconvenience our customer. In addition, the thieves themselves are in mortal danger as they perform these criminal acts.”
Pacific Power asks the public to help in any way they can to put a halt to this criminal activity and prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.
Besides Pacific Power, the thieves are also hitting the historic Yakima Valley Trolley that runs from downtown Yakima to outlying communities. A recent trial in Yakima involved a 2005 theft that has temporarily closed the line to Selah. “This is very costly for a nonprofit to bear,” said trolley board member Ed Neel of the cost of replacing wire. “At this point, due to the wire thefts, we will need all the community support we can gather to reopen the line to Selah. This is robbing from the community.”
The thefts are occurring at night throughout the greater Yakima area. Some of the thefts are being done by individuals with experience in climbing poles and possessing at least a basic knowledge of how an electrical grid works. Other thefts involve pulling grounding wire off near the ground. More than one group of thieves may be at work.
Law enforcement officials and Pacific Power are asking residents to report any incidents where they see individuals climbing poles or carrying coiled wire when there are no Pacific Power vehicles in the vicinity. Except during local outages, Pacific Power crews would not be working at night. Official Pacific Power crews will be using company-marked vehicles, wearing company gear and surrounding any work vehicles with orange cones. At this time, the Yakima district is not employing any contract crews to do work and likely wouldn’t do so except during an extended or widespread outage.
If residents see any suspicious activity around power poles or the trolley line, do not confront these individuals, but call 911. If someone has knowledge of past thefts, please call the Crime Stoppers hotline, 1-800-222-TIPS (1-800-222-8477).
A key part of the effort involves deploying high tech surveillance equipment into the area in order to catch criminals in the act and obtain vehicle identification. In addition, wire has been specially marked for identification.
In 2007, Washington enacted a strong law to stem the rise in wire theft. The law concentrates on making it very difficult for thieves to sell their haul to dealers. With new teeth for apprehension and prosecution, law enforcement is redoubling its efforts to find dealers who may have received this stolen property. Salvage dealers are NOT eligible for the reward as they already have a legal obligation to report any suspicious material brought to their yard.
