Arrest foils brassy effort to steal lots of copper wire

He looked like any other construction worker, with his hard hat and bright-orange vest. He even set up construction cones around his utility van.

With workers around him building car-pool lanes on Highway 167 in Auburn early Thursday, he dug up several utility boxes at the Department of Transportation site and ripped out valuable copper cables, according to the State Patrol.

Then he caught the eye of the foreman because he was in an area not scheduled for work. The foreman confronted him and he drove off in his van.

About three hours later, he returned to the site — this time without his construction garb — and continued yanking out cables from an electrical-junction box in the freeway median, State Patrol Trooper Jeff Merrill said.

By the time he was spotted by a State Patrol trooper near the Auburn SuperMall around 3:30 a.m. Thursday, the man had ripped out about 8,400 feet of wire, worth about $4,500, Merrill said.

Kenneth James Thode, 38, of Puyallup, had cable cutters with him when he was arrested for investigation of theft, Merrill said. Troopers also found sliced cable inside his van.

While metal theft has become common as the price of scrap metal rises, the audacious ruse in this case was unusual.

"It's pretty bold isn't it?" said Patrick Moylan, a DOT maintenance manager. "We've had times in the past where aluminum is stolen, bridge rails and light rails. But I don't remember losing that much in such a short amount of time."

Metal theft from construction sites has increased so much that troopers have extended sites near major interstates and highways as part of their patrol beat, Merrill said. In the past three months, the DOT has lost a record amount of copper wire; it will cost the state about $100,000 to replace what has been stolen, Moylan said.

To track copper thieves, the DOT is taking tips from the public, and, if necessary, rotating traffic cameras into construction zones so it can keep an eye out for theft, Moylan said.

Jonathan Howe, owner of West Seattle Recycling, said metal theft is so pervasive that he and other metal recyclers worry about whether their customers are breaking the law.

"It's so depressing to us in the scrap business," Howe said. "It makes us look complicit. Ninety-nine percent of our customers are legitimate."

Last fall, at least 200 vases were stolen from Washington Memorial Park in SeaTac and Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Bellevue. The 5-pound vases cost about $150 each. Many of the vases were sold to metal recyclers, police said.

According to a metal price list on its Web site, West Seattle Recycling offers up to $1.15 a pound for brass, up to $2 a pound for copper, up to $1.30 a pound for insulated copper wire and up to 53 cents a pound for aluminum scrap.

Ten years ago, West Seattle Recycling bought copper for about 80 cents a pound, Howe said. He attributed the soaring prices to widespread construction in China. He said he sells about four tons a month to a broker in Tacoma who, in turn, sells the copper to companies in China.

"They're in such a building boom. It's supply and demand," Howe said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com