Wire Thieves Arrested

🚨Wire Thieves Arrested🚨

On February 21, officers responded to the 6400 blk Southcenter Blvd after receiving a report of two individuals in the vicinity of an open manhole cover stealing cable. Upon arrival, officers were informed that the two suspects had rode off on bicycles after being confronted by a witness.

Officers located the suspects at a bus stop in the 6200 blk Southcenter Blvd and detained them. Through investigation, officers learned that the female suspect had pulled approximately 300 feet of cable out of conduit in the manhole. The male was found to be in possession of bolt cutters and the cable upon inspection had been cut.

The female was taken into custody and booked for Malicious Mischief (property damage) and Attempted Theft. The male was booked on a Tukwila Domestic Violence warrant and is also facing the same charges as his partner in crime.

🚫How Can You Help Stop This?🚫

Wire theft has been an ongoing issue in our area. These thefts have resulted in cable/internet outages that have impacted our 911 operation system, power outages for residents and damage to city infrastructure. It also costs thousands to repair the damage between the cost of materials, time for crews to come out and fix the damage and loss of business due to power/internet being unavailable.

City Public Works employees drive marked City of Tukwila trucks and vehicles. They also typically wear bright colored safety vests. Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light also drive marked vehicles and wear the same bright colored safety vests. If you see individuals messing with wire, cable boxes, light poles or other infrastructure or leaving construction sites with handfuls of wire without marked vehicles or any kind of safety helmets, safety equipment or other markings to indicate that they are official employees, please feel to call 9-1-1 to report it.

Another red flag that is often encountered is individuals stripping wire in cars and or RV’s on the side of the road. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to be in possession of hundreds of feet of commercial grade wire sitting in a car or RV on the side of the road, stripping the wire and tossing the wire casings out the window. This has happened fairly frequently and has led to officers recovering stolen wire and making arrests thanks to passerby’s reporting the behavior.

The bottom line….If it looks sketchy/suspicious, please call it in to us and report it.