By Pepper Fisher

SEQUIM – The Sequim Police Department has received two recent reports of the theft of copper wire resulting in thousands of dollars in loss and repair.

One theft was from a building that was under construction, the other was from live street light posts along Bell Street in Sequim. Deputy Police Chief Mike Hill says, in that case, the thief was fortunate to not have been electrocuted.

“So according to our Public Works, that they’re pretty fortunate because they did cut through an actual live wire, and it could have electrocuted them, especially the amount of power that goes through those particular lights.”

Sequim Police say they’ve increased patrols in those areas and are encouraging construction businesses to take extra measures to secure their job sites and lock up tools and supplies.

“Yeah, there’s been a bit of a lull that we were aware of, and we haven’t had any recent reports, especially if this nature in copper thefts. But we do realize, you know,  construction is more prevalent now and because we hadn’t seen it for a while and it happened more than once, we thought we’d get the word out.”

Hill says copper thefts are often associated with people involved with narcotics use and they will sell the copper to recycling centers to fund their addiction.