Lights on: Chandler to replace stolen copper wire

Chandler is moving ahead with work to turn on more than 200 streetlights that copper thieves have kept dark for years on the developed portions of the Paseo Trail.

The city's parks department plans to ask the City Council on Thursday for permission to spend $335,671 to hire a contractor to replace 3 1/2 miles of wire that has been stolen from the ground.

Police: Man admits to string of copper thefts

The Paseo Trail features developed horse and walking trails, along with other amenities, on the banks of the Consolidated Canal running from Galveston Street and Cooper Road to the area of Riggs and McQueen roads.

About 4 1/2 miles of the 6 1/2-mile trail has been developed, most of which was completed about two years ago but has never been lit.

Kris Kircher, Chandler's parks facility manager, said the light system's design for easy maintenance makes it easy for thieves to steal the copper wire.

Each light has a box to access the wiring, and thieves were regularly helping themselves to it.

Workers buried the boxes to prevent the thefts, but that didn't help, either.

"The thieves unburied the boxes, stole the wire and buried the boxes back," Kircher said.

City workers had always been able to complete the repairs, but replacing 31/2 miles of stolen wire is too big a job, Kircher said.

The repair is expensive because of the gauge of the wire, he said.

Stealing copper has become prevalent in recent years as the industrial growth of China has sent prices soaring.

Copper was valued at $1.08 per pound on the commodities market in January 2004 and now goes for about $3.40 per pound.

Rey Hernandez, manager of Arizona Recycling in Mesa, said scrap copper goes for $2.30 to $2.50 a pound for a person off the street, and businesses can get as much as $2.90 a pound.

Detective Frank Mendoza, Chandler police spokesman, said there is not a typical profile for a copper thief, but drugs are often involved.

"Most people out committing crimes are out trying to fulfill drug needs somehow," Mendoza said.

Chandler police arrested Steven R. Fowler, 40, on March 21 after they found a fenced commercial yard along the Paseo Trail broken into and wire from several spools missing.

Fowler, an electrician, told a probation officer that he committed the crime to support a drug habit, according to court records.

Bacon, a police dog, was able to track Fowler down. Officers found Fowler with wire cutters and a metal cart, but no wire.

He pleaded guilty to felony theft, was placed on probation July 10 and was given credit for 111 days in jail.

Nothing in court records indicates that he was responsible for any other thefts along the Paseo Trail.

Kircher said the city has held off on replacing the miles of stolen wire while testing the reliability of a theft-prevention system that has been installed.

"We feel confident it will detect if wire's being stolen," Kircher said.

Work on lighting the trail will be done in five sections, and plans are to have the first one lit by Sept. 1 and the last one in December, Kircher said.