By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Lindon Oyama, who frequently walks and jogs across the
Sand Island Access Road bridge, noticed a couple of months
ago that a few of the sections of railing were missing. He
thought they were being removed for repair. When more
sections started to disappear and none were replaced, he
figured something was wrong. He said he reported it to
police, but he's seen no action, only more sections
being taken. He said it's easy to take the railings
apart since they are attached only by nuts.

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Thieves strip
railing from Sand
Island road bridge

By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

Thieves have stripped more than 530 feet of heavy aluminum railing from the Sand Island Access Road bridge, and police hope someone was watching.

That was not a government work crew dismantling and hauling away the tubing, which is in sections 8 feet long and 18 inches high.

The state Department of Transportation reported that tubing valued at $112,000 was taken between June 3 and June 9.

But a man who jogs across the bridge about twice a week said he's noticed that sections have been disappearing over a period of several months.

"I'm sure it's going to recycling," said police Sgt. Letha DeCaires of the CrimeStoppers program.

Police believe it took at least two people to lift each section, and a truck or van was needed to carry it away. "It's not like one guy picking up a piece of wire and walking off with it," DeCaires said.

The total weight of the piping was about a half-ton, she said.

Recyclers are paying between 25 and 30 cents per pound for aluminum pipe these days, said a worker at the Aiea Recycling yard. That would have netted the thieves no more than $300.

Anyone who can lead police to the thieves could profit more than that, DeCaires said. Crimestoppers will pay $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.

The pipe, which tops off a low cement wall along the makai side of the bridge, is a guardrail for the walkway used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

"It's hard to see if you're driving over the bridge; it's on the outside," said Lindon Oyama, who jogs through the Sand Island area regularly.

"I have seen sections disappearing one-by-one over several months. I figured maybe they are doing some maintenance," he said. "In the last three months they've been disappearing more regularly."

Oyama said that one time he passed, he saw a couple of railing sections lying on the walkway, and another time, he noticed loosened nuts at a connection of the standing railing.

DeCaires said police are alerting recycling businesses about the theft.

"State law requires that they take an ID and keep a record of the weight," she said.

It's not the first time such thefts have occurred. The Department of Transportation reported last year that more than $100,000 worth of signs and guardrails had been stolen. Police have also investigated thefts of metal park benches and sprinkler heads.

Copper wire, which is worth even more at the recyclers, is a frequent target of thieves. Scavengers hit electrical contractors and supply companies. In May 1996, a 30-year-old man was electrocuted while trying to remove copper conductors from an Hawaiian Electric Co. substation.

"This is costing taxpayers a lot of money," DeCaires said.

Confidential tips may be made by calling CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.