Report: Scrap Metal Thieves Cause Fatal Crashes, Millions in Infrastructure Damage for Cities Across U.S.

Urban metal theft has risen to new levels following the pandemic, with thousands of feet of wiring from streetlights, hundreds of fire hydrants, and even mausoleum nameplates being stolen to flip for small amounts of money all over the country.

The “brazen” crime of opportunity is posing significant safety hazards to the residents of cities where public lights frequently go dark after being stripped of their copper, the New York Times detailed in an article Tuesday. 

In St. Paul, Minnesota, a man was “recently hit by a car and killed while crossing a street near his home where streetlights had gone out,” the report stated.

Laurellee Wirtz was widowed on Christmas Eve 2023 when her husband and dog were struck by a truck on the “pitch black” road that she and her neighbors had reported to the city of St. Paul “for months,” KSTP reported. 

The tragedy occurred in front of the couple’s home on Maryland Avenue West when 64-year-old Steven Wirtz and their two-year-old German Shepherd, Gunther, were hit at around 8:15 p.m. 

“I’ll never, ever ever get that scene out of my head,” the grieving wife told the local outlet in March. “When I went out there and saw him, all I could do was yell that they killed him. ‘They killed him. They killed him.’ That’s all I could say over and over again…I wanted to go up and touch him one more time, tell him I love him, but I couldn’t move. All I could do was yell.”

Gunther was also killed in the accident.

According to St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw, the streetlights were out ​​due to a “combination of copper wire theft and the timing” of new LED light installations.

Wirtz’s death highlighted “why we keep going back and installing the copper wire even when [theft] happens,” Kershaw said. “We can’t let up.”

Copper from one light pole is sold for only about $30, according to the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune.

Also cited by the New York Times was the theft of more than 970,000 feet — or 184 miles — of electrical wiring from Las Vegas, Nevada, area streetlights in just the last two years. 

In Los Angeles, California, the “Ribbon of Light” bridge is now “completely in the dark” after copper thieves stole the attraction’s wiring, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

Approximately 500 to 600 cases of copper wire theft were reported annually in the city just five years ago, the outlet stated. According to LA Councilman Kevin de León (D), there have been a whopping 6,713 cases in just the last year — with repair costs amounting to over $17 million. 

“We have to understand this is not merely about stealing copper wire, because it goes beyond that,” De León said. “Thieves are literally picking our city apart for parts to sell for scraps.”

More safety hazards have been created by the mass theft of fire hydrants as well, with more than 290 going missing across Los Angeles County since January. 

Kate Nutting, a general manager at the Golden State Water Company, which owns the hydrants, said the devices are largely made of iron and cost $4,000 to replace. As many as 10 hydrants have been stolen at one time in some neighborhoods, she told the New York Times. 

In a statement obtained by ABC7, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said they are “aware and concerned about the recent theft of fire hydrants affecting multiple jurisdictions throughout Los Angeles County.”

“The theft of fire hydrants poses a threat to public safety as it hampers the fire department’s ability to quickly respond to fires and protect lives and property,” officials stated.

Although they are costly to replace, thieves do not sell the stolen hydrants for a lot of money, similar to the copper wiring. 

“Why are you taking them? And then come to find out they’re only getting about $100 off of them. So OK, you’re making quick money but you’re putting so many people in danger,” Krystal Cousins, an LA County resident who lives in between two recently-stolen hydrants, told ABC7. 

While authorities in numerous cities are attempting to collaborate with scrap metal recyclers to make sure they are not purchasing stolen materials, the problem has not subsided.

In other areas of California, thieves have even targeted a historically black cemetery to steal metal placards, Los Angeles Magazine reported.

The nameplates from the mausoleum and a commemorative plaque dedicated by the boxer Joe Louis “to honor and remember the fallen Black soldiers” at the Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Carson, near Compton, were stolen along with a metal pipe used to water the lawn, cemetery volunteer Aisha Woods said. 

Thieves struck again last month, with someone stealing more metal nameplates from the mausoleum and breaking off the doors to the chamber, the Times report noted.

“It’s like opening a new wound,” said Woods. “It’s disrespectful to sacred grounds.”

“They used to say there was honor among thieves,” said LA Councilman de León, who pushed to create a metal theft task force. “But when you are stealing markers from graves, that is a new low.”