In what prosecutors described as an elaborate, lengthy and extensive copper-theft operation, an Oahu grand jury indicted 10 people yesterday accused of ripping out more than $563,000 in wiring from freeway lampposts and utility boxes.

Copper Wire Thieves Caught

 

Ten people were indicted today for stealing copper which darkened the roadways and will cost taxpayers millions to repairs.

 

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  The accused include the alleged ringleader, James B. Taylor Jr., known among friends as “;Freeway Jimmy.”;

Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter said drugs were the motivation behind the thefts, which spanned a three-year period.

Van Marter said the indictments resulted from Operation Lights Out, a two-year investigation by state sheriffs with help from the Honolulu Police Department and other city and state agencies.

“;These guys would continue to steal copper if it hadn't been for the efforts put into the case by the Sheriff Division,”; Van Marter said yesterday.

The theft ring made $144,801.96 by selling 72,265 pounds of copper wire stolen from along the H-1 and H-2 freeways to scrap dealers in 478 transactions, according to prosecutors. The thefts occurred between 2005 and this year.

Taylor was charged with first-degree theft, unlawful operation of a racketeering enterprise, money laundering and other related crimes. His bail was set at $250,000.

Taylor's wife, Regina L. Foster, who allegedly delivered stolen copper to scrap-metal dealers more than 200 times, and Joseph R. Tano, who along with Taylor allegedly removed copper wire from pull boxes and light poles, were described as the other two key people in the operation. Their bail also was set at $250,000 each.

The seven other people allegedly involved - Elaine S. Torres, William Kondas Jr., Leslie M. Fulgoni, Dean T. Rice, Melissa S. Myricks, Symon Nikolaidis and Cody K. Batongbacal - played lesser roles in the operation, serving as lookouts, drivers, wire strippers and delivery people, according to prosecutors.

A surge in the price of scrap copper - from about 80 cents a pound in 2003 to almost $4 a pound by the fall of 2006 - was associated with a rise in thefts of copper wiring from a variety of venues, notably light poles along highways and at parks. But the price began dropping in June of this year and is now nearly at a four-year low, $1.28 a pound, according to Bloomberg News.

As the price fell, so did thefts, but Van Marter said the main reason for the decline was Taylor's arrest.

“;It's not because the price of copper went down,”; he said.

Taylor was arrested June 22 while he was allegedly stealing copper wire that had been cut from light poles along the H-1. Thereafter, his alleged co-conspirators cooperated with law enforcement, Van Marter said.

Van Marter also credited an anti-copper-theft law enacted last year that requires every person selling copper to a scrap dealer to provide a notarized declaration that identified the source of their copper. It also requires scrap dealers to photocopy the seller's identification card as well as take a photo of the copper that was being sold.