Pacific Northwest leads nation in infrastructure vandalism

Copper wire theft in our state is rampant. One quarter of the thefts in North America take place in Oregon and Washington. It’s a serious problem that’s downing telecommunication and even endangering lives.

In Maple Valley, Rick Geist’s phone service was cut off - not by his provider, CenturyLink, but rather by thieves who cut the cable to sell at local scrap yards for pennies on the dollar.

“And then they started cutting my fence, which really kind of got me mad,” said Rick.

Iin addition to cutting Rick’s fence, the thieves cut about a football field’s length worth of cable.

Rural areas of Pierce and South King Counties are plagued with vandals climbing poles for the copper inside telephone wires.

Rick has been chasing them off his property for months. He says his neighbors worry for their safety.

“Other people need that landline because they have medical equipment that’s attached to that telephone line. They have a heart monitor or whatever else that they’re using and can’t access the system because the line is not working,” said Rick.

Rick believes the culprits live near his property. Law enforcement has identified suspects and are working to bring them to justice. Most of these thieves do it for drug money.