Sheriff’s Office: Valley thieves steal thousands in copper wiring

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is looking for thieves who made off with thousands in copper wiring from a home and business in Spokane Valley last week. Deputies were called to a business in the 2200 block of North Woodruff Road on Friday, where the owner said more than a quarter mile of copper had been stripped from the power lines running between two buildings in the complex. The theft occurred sometime between 7 p.m. Thursday and early Friday morning, the owner told police. The estimated cost to replace the missing wiring is more than $6,500, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. Also Friday, deputies responded to a call of a residential burglary at a vacant home near the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center. The owner of the home in the 4900 block of East 2nd Avenue said all the electrical wiring in the home had been stripped sometime between Wednesday and Friday, according to a news release. Damages are estimated in the thousands. The alleged burglaries follow the theft of $14,000 worth of copper from a Rathdrum railroad depot earlier this month and a hit on a Spokane Valley cell tower in September that cost that business $17,500. Spokane Police also report multiple thefts of more than $15,000 worth of scrap metal since Oct. 21. Copper prices peaked above $3.80 per pound of high-grade metal in January. Prices currently sit around $3.15 after trending downward most of the year. Those with information about last week’s thefts are asked to call Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest at 800-222-8477 or submit a tip online. A cash reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest in either case.