OPPD, Douglas County authorities on the lookout after recent string of copper thefts

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - OPPD has seen an uptick in copper theft, officials tell us they’ve seen four incidents of theft or attempted theft of copper in a 10-day period.

Stealing copper or other metals could land you behind metal bars you won’t be able to sell for scrap.

The trail under the bridge at Bob Boozer and Pacific can be a cool spot to ride or walk. It’s also secluded.

Earlier in the month, thieves took advantage of the out of the way place, broke open the conduit to steal the copper wiring that ran through the tubes.

Charlie French runs the trail every day, he says he’s seen this kind of thing before.

“I used to be in the air force and we lost a bunch of our copper wire strung between our systems, so yeah, that’s bad,” French said.

“I understand that people go to great lengths to steal, it’s a shame it should happen in our community.”

OPPD has the tubes back in place and out of the way, held up by straps, duct tape, and zip ties. All of this work and expenses, completely unnecessary.

“Unfortunately we have dealt with copper theft for years and years. Thieves are trying to make a quick way to make a few bucks by selling scrap metal,” Jodi Baker with OPPD said.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Officials told First Alert 6 that law enforcement uses a national reporting system that covers both pawn shops and scrap yards.

“In jurisdictions where the people buying either used items or scrap metals are obligated to report into this system, it allows our agency and Omaha Police to access that web portal and search for specific transactions or transactions by specific individuals,” DeChellis said.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigator Michael DeChellis said they do more than check their website to keep an eye out for hot copper and other metals.

“In some instances in the past, we’ve gone down to scrap yards to work with people running that business to look for special items, stolen property,” he said.

Officials said stealing to scrap copper from OPPD can land you in jail, and is very dangerous because electricity could be involved.

Damage from recent copper thefts has cost the utilities in the six figures to repair.

OPPD told First Alert 6 that as their equipment is modernized, the utility is using less copper.