Pair Steals Thousands Of Dollars In Copper From OG&E

<p>A pair of thieves stole thousands of dollars in copper from an OG&amp;E construction site last month, and now police are hoping you can help identify them.</p>

Thursday, December 7th 2017, 6:09 pm

By: News 9


A pair of thieves stole thousands of dollars in copper from an OG&E construction site last month, and now police are hoping you can help identify them.

The OG&E property in south Oklahoma City houses spools of supplies, including copper. The man and woman in question saw their opportunity and took it.

The two thieves chose the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to target the giant spools of copper at a site where OG&E is building a new substation.

Read Related Story: Thieves Steal Copper Spool From OG&E Facility In SE OKC

Just after 5 p.m. on Nov. 21, the sun was still out but the barbed wire fences were closed.

“It had a chain around the gate. The chain was cut,” said Msgt. Gary Knight with Oklahoma City police.

Police say the man and woman pulled inside and spent a few minutes loading one of the spools, which was reportedly carrying $2,000 in copper.

“Obviously they take this to go and sell it,” Knight said. “Copper is a popular item for metal thieves to steal because they can take it to a metal recycling plant and turn it into cash very quickly.”

OG&E representatives told News 9 they do see copper theft increase around the holidays, but say people usually go after copper that is attached to live electricity, which is extremely dangerous.

In this case, the thieves were able to steal more with less risk, and police believe someone will recognize the people trying to unload an unusually large amount of copper.

“You would hope that people would question them as to why they’re doing this, but oftentimes they don’t,” said Knight.

Police fear, however, that the copper is already gone, so they want everyone to take a close look at the faces of the culprits and report them.

Knight added, “We’ll see if we hear from one of the recycling plants or somebody else who might know something about it.”

Meantime, OG&E reps say they are always evaluating security protocol and plan to make changes at the site accordingly.

If you have any information that would help solve the burglary, call Crime Stoppers at (405) 235-7300.

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