Two Washington State men are facing felony charges for allegedly stealing over a four miles of copper wire from a light rail line in King County. According the Seattle Post Inquisitor, Donald Howard Turpin, 54, and Lee Russell Skelly, 44, made the thefts over a nine-month period starting in 2010.
The pair are accused of accessing the line using maintenance hatches leading underneath the light rail line. The copper was intended to ground the system, but Turpin and Skelly would systematically cut and strip the wire in large sections. Those sections were then sold to scrap metal and recycling firms.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg released a statement on the charges stating:
"This crime shows the astounding lengths that some criminals will go to take what isn't theirs. The defendants in this case literally stripped away at our public transportation infrastructure."
The pair made over $40,000 in profit selling the wire, according to the Post Inquisitor, and it will cost roughly $1.3 million to replace.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com