‘Copper Thieves’ are Turning American Cities into Third World Countries

Original article here.

Legalize crime, as pro-crime activists did in the name of ‘criminal justice reform’ and you don’t just get more crime, you get third world living conditions as criminals go after everything.

And I do mean everything.

Cemeteries, streetlights and bridges across Los Angeles have been targeted by copper thieves in recent weeks, and now officials are vowing to crack down on the rise in thefts.

Thieves are stealing copper wire so they can sell it to recycling centers who may not know that what they are buying is stolen.

According to Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León, the city has spent tens of millions of dollars on repairing damage caused by the thieves, most of whom use hand saws to saw right through metal panels.

“In my district alone, we have about 3,700 lights that are completely out,” Councilmember de León told KTLA 5’s Jacqueline Sarkissian. “We are on the 6th Street Bridge right now … half of the bridge is completely dark because these thieves have broken into the metal panels.”

“Streetlights that can be 15 to 30 feet high [can have] a minimum of 150 feet of copper wire,” de León said.

That’s a whole lot of copper wire and a whole lot of dark streets. It’s not just happening in LA either, but in other pro-crime cities.

Here it is in St. Paul.

St. Paul police arrested four people on Saturday, Jan. 20 in the city’s North of Maryland neighborhood after a person reported seeing several men who “appeared to be stealing copper” in the area of Nebraska Avenue West and Cohansey Street just after 5 a.m., according to the complaint.

Police say when they stopped the vehicle, there were four people inside. They add there were multiple light poles on Nebraska Avenue and in the two blocks around Cohansey Street that were not only damaged but also missing wiring, as well as multiple poles along Arlington Avenue North.

While searching the vehicle, the complaint says officers found a “large quantity of copper wiring in spools” in the back of the SUV, adding much of it was marked “City of St. Paul Public Works.” The document adds a backpack holding tools, a driver, a flashlight and a machete was on the front passenger side floor.

A passenger on the rear driver’s side, identified in the complaint as 24-year-old Eh Tha Blay, told police he was a “lookout” and held a flashlight while others cut wire and pulled it.

The front passenger, identified as 29-year-old Kwi Win, and the other rear passenger, 28-year-old Win Naing, refused to give a statement, according to the complaint. The document adds Win has previous convictions for possession of theft tools.

Minneapolis is giving up on copper wire.

“2023 was probably one of the worst years we’ve had for wire theft of the streetlight… both on city streets and the parkway roadways,” said Joe Laurin, project manager for the City of Minneapolis’ Public Works Traffic Division. “We’re not exactly sure why the the wire theft has increased so much. We suspect it could be related to the current copper prices being as high as they are.”

The city of Minneapolis is now taking a different approach in hopes of deterring copper thieves.

“We did purchase 25,000 feet, so approximately five miles of aluminum wire, to put into the conduit system and make repairs for approximately five miles of wire that was stolen during 2023,” Laurin said.

It’s not just streetlights impacted. The city is also seeing copper wire thefts at curbside EV Spot Network chargers.

Expect this to impact Biden’s $5 billion EV chargers rollout.

Solar panels are also ripe targets.

In mid-December, someone stole more than $100,000 in copper wire from a solar panel farm located near S. Jefferson and E. Chestnut Avenues in Fresno.

Green energy meets third-world reality.