Houston police arrest suspects for scrapping large amounts of stolen copper wire

“I was called out to a scene by a patrol officer who had a large amount of wire stolen from a 30-acre yard that inventoried pipe and wiring. The wire was distinctive because it was encased in an orange, ribbed insulation. Within that insulation was a steel sheathing, then three large wires and one small wire inside. I followed the drag marks on the ground to a cut in the fenced in the perimeter. The scene also showed a roll of duct tape near the wooden spool that the wire was stolen from and pieces of raveled duct tape along the drag marks on the ground. I noted the address of the apartment complex just outside the cut fence and ran the address of the apartment complex through LeadsOnline. I found the suspect because he sold the exact material to a scrap yard and used an ID that had an address of that apartment complex. I was able to recover $6,000 worth of wire at the scrap yard and charge him for third degree aggregate theft for two thefts that occurred at the same location exactly one month apart. Without LeadsOnline there would not have been any leads in this case, and the thieves would have gotten away with over $66,000 worth of copper from the same complainant in a one month period.”

Sr. Ofc. Kyle Brauner
Houston Police Department
Texas