man-tampers-with-montana-rail-link-control-boxes-damage-could-have-been-catast rophic
Author: Tyrone Biggums
Date: 07-20-2021 - 17:19
STATELINE STORY June 18, 2018
Last month, a thief in Billings, Montana, stripped about 5 miles of copper wiring from city streetlights. Four high-traffic areas of the city were left in the dark. As of last week, there had been no arrests.
In May, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona arrested three people for allegedly scrapping more than 300 pounds of copper wire stolen from state rights of way.
A search of one suspect’s home found glass methamphetamine pipes, a digital scale and meth residue on top of a dresser.
“The majority of the [copper theft] suspects we see out here are drug users,” said sheriff’s office spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn.
“That’s pretty typical.”