Deputies catch suspects coming to pick up the goods.
One suspect was arrested and another remains at large after the theft of a large amount of copper wire was averted by an alert Department of Water and Power employee.
Sgt. Byron Wainie told KHTS that Tuesday afternoon, the utility worker noticed a 2,500-foot section of copper wire had been cut from a pole holding high tension wires. When he noted the wire had been parceled into smaller sections for easy transport, he notified the sheriff’s department.
Deputies responding to the Rancho San Francisco area north of Soledad Canyon Road and were there when James White, 47, and another man arrived to remove the wire. White was arrested, but the other man fled the scene.
The theft of copper wire is an ongoing problem for cities and utility companies throughout the Southland. Wainie said the wire confiscated Tuesday was valued at $10,000.
White is being held at Santa Clarita station in lieu of $20,000 bail. He is due in court Thursday.