by Mindy Aguon, KUAM News Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Subscribe to Mindy's newsfeed   E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

Capitalizing on copper, criminals are targeting the precious metal, going great lengths and heights to get their hands on it. And evidently, the danger of electrocution isn't stopping criminals from climbing, cutting and cashing-in on copper wires.

While the Guam Police Department is cracking down on the copper cutters after receiving more than a dozen complaints, one resident in Yigo is cutting off any future criminal activity to cheat his company by implanting his own shocking security plans to teach the copper cutters a lesson. When Guam Raceway Park owner Henry Simpson visited the Yigo track the week after Christmas, he was disheartened to find several hundred pounds of copper wire stolen from concrete poles along the quarter-mile strip.

In the jungle area near the drag strip, Simpson found the suspects' trail after they left behind some pieces of his copper wire and the bolt cutters they obviously used.

Simpson says the suspects had a tough job. Parked down by the back road to Andersen Air Force Base, it appears they made their own path through the jungle, climbed the concrete poles, cut the wire, and dragged several hundred pounds back to their car. The raceway owner says because of the weight of all the stolen copper wire, it's likely there was more than one suspect.

After going to police, Simpson did some investigating of his own. He ended up at Chang Chin in Harmon, where he found workers already stripping his copper wires. "I knew it was my wire because its got a batch number on it," he explained. "And I checked with our contractors here and they had special ordered that wire in for this project."

Manufacturers confirmed the particular copper wire Simpson had chosen for the Guam Raceway Park was, in fact, the only such wire ever shipped to Guam. Simpson says the owner of Chang Chin gave him a check for $40,000 as a security guarantee. "If we're not made whole by the police investigation and stuff like that, we're basically going to keep that money and use it to repair the damages that were done," Simpson said, assessing his situation.

KUAM News then visited Island Scrapyard in dededo. After rummaging through wire casing, Simpson identified his copper wire with the batch numbers as he did at Chang Chen. At first Island Scrapyard owner John Feng said he had no comment about accepting stolen wires, but later explained why he believes Simpson's wire wasn't stolen. "You see, some of the wire comes from job sites and they sell it here," he told our camera crew. When asked if he inquired about their names, phone numbers, identification, anything when they bring in the wire, Feng responded by saying, "We ask for license plate only." Further, he said, "I don't know. We don't know where they get it from," when asked if hew knew of the wire's origin.

While Simpson is looking to find out who stole his property, the Raceway Park owner says his bigger concern is with companies like Chang Chen and Island Scrapyard that he believes are purchasing stolen items. "To me, the fault of it is these scrap yards that take this metal with no questions asked, and so it encourages these guys to go out and steal wire around the island because they have a sure way to turn it into cash," said Simpson.

($0.50 per pound, to be exact.)

In Simpson's case, the several thousand feet of copper wire stolen in Yigo, amounted to more than $300 in cold hard cash for those who stole the wire. To prevent future incidents, Simpson has been driven to implement a slew of security measures including cameras and leaving some lines energized to shock anyone attempting to steal the copper wire in the future.

Guam Police Department Criminal Investigation Division Agent Dennis Santos confirms there are at least 20 open cases involving stolen copper wire reported in the last three months alone. CID officials confirm the suspects could be stealing the copper wire to obtain drug money, but the investigation yet to yield any confirmation on that theory. Santos says investigators are running into problems with local scrap yards that do not keep records of the goods they purchase. The officer believes owners of salvage yards should be held more accountable for the items brought in off the street.

If police determine the scrap yard companies had reason to believe the wire was stolen, establishment owners can be charged with theft by receiving.

Any residents with any information about the recent rash of stolen copper wire are asked to call Guam Police immediately at 472-8911 or Guam Crimestoppers at 477-HELP.