Lured by the salvage price of $2 per pound, copper thieves struck 24 times in 2013, a 100 percent increase from 12 reported copper thefts in 2012.
But Robert Okuda, whose family has traded in scrap metals for more than 50 years on Oahu, said those numbers are only the tip of the iceberg.
He said he hears about a lot of copper thefts. "A lot of people don’t report it," he said. "They say it got stolen but what can the police do?"
Okuda said at $2 a pound for copper in the past several years, the price is an incentive for certain kinds of thieves, including those unemployed and with a drug addiction.
Okuda said his Kalihi business has been hit three times in three weeks recently.
He is not alone.
In April there have been three publicized cases of copper theft:
» On April 6, vandals cut through the copper wires of a communication system at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s Kalihi 614 reservoir, cutting off water service to 100 homes in Kalihi Valley.
» On April 11, thieves struck the same reservoir and burned off insulation covering cables to remove the copper wiring owned by Hawaiian Telcom.
» Earlier this week thieves stole copper from Hawaiian Telcom after breaking open a welded manhole cover in Moanalua, disrupting telephone and Internet services for as many as 600 customers.
Hawaiian Telcom spokeswoman Ann Nishida Fry said the estimated cost of repairs alone for the theft this week is $35,000. Hawaiian Telcom said thieves have stolen copper from the Moanalua location four times.
Copper thefts have disrupted public and consumer services in the past, shutting down lights on Oahu freeways, knocking out 24 traffic cameras on the H-1 and H-2, and cutting telephone and cable service to 25,000 homes and businesses near the airport.
Honolulu prosecutor spokesman Dave Koga said the number of cases prosecuted represents only a fraction of the copper thefts. "A lot of them don’t get solved," he said. "A lot of them don’t get to our office."
In 2007, after a rash of copper thefts, state legislators passed a law that made stealing a pound or more of copper a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Police spokeswoman Teresa Bell said the 2007 law, which also required businesses buying scrap copper to follow certain registration procedures, has helped law enforcement officers solve some cases.
Kalihi police conducted a sting operation in 2007, charging individuals at a couple of businesses with failing to comply with records requirements.
Under the law, copper dealers can be punished if they falsify records or fail to keep required records.
Okuda said thieves have been getting around the 2007 law by getting people with clean criminal records to sell the copper and lie about how they obtained it.
He said in his opinion, the state has enough laws and the laws need more enforcement.
"We just need to find a way to enforce it better," he said.
