Charges filed in 3 cases of copper wire theft from streetlights in St. Paul, Cottage Grove

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
Updated ·5 min read
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Charges filed in 3 cases of copper wire theft from streetlights in St. Paul, Cottage Grove

Cottage Grove is among the cities facing a rash of theft of copper wire from streetlights. In response, police have put up covert video cameras in spots thieves might target.

The effort paid off last week as one spot — a mostly industrial area along 100th Street and west of U.S. 61 — was too tempting for three copper capers, police say. Officers monitoring the cameras from squad cars saw the thievery go down, swooped in and arrested the trio.

The case is one of three filed in Washington and Ramsey counties over the past week in connection with streetlight pillaging, highlighting a growing problem, police and prosecutors say. The two other theft-related cases happened in St. Paul, which has been hit especially hard in recent months.

In all, eight suspects — six men and two women — were arrested and charged in the three cases.

“The theft of copper wiring from light poles has become a major problem in St. Paul, impacting large portions of the city,” charges against four of the suspects say. “Repairs for this crime have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars and have left many streets dark, endangering the public.”

Busted on a bike

The first arrest happened around 3 a.m. Jan. 18 after St. Paul police were called to the 800 block of Sherburne Avenue, just north of University Avenue, on a report of people stealing wire from a streetlight.

An officer saw a man riding a bike and tried to stop and question him, but he fled down an alley behind University Avenue.

The bicyclist crashed and was identified as 47-year-old E Xiong of St. Paul.

Xiong was in possession of wires, copper, a wire cutter, screwdriver and saw blade, according to Tuesday’s criminal complaint charging him with felony possession of burglary or theft tools.

Xiong said he found the wires, and that he uses the tools to fix his bike. He was wanted on a Ramsey County felony warrant for theft.

Officers located five damaged light posts in the area.

Xiong has two open cases involving theft of wires from St. Paul streetlights, court records show.

‘City of Saint Paul’

The Cottage Grove trio was arrested shortly before 8:30 p.m. Jan. 18. Video cameras showed a black Hyundai with black steel rims driving back and forth near Ideal Avenue and 100th Street. It eventually stopped, three people got out and pulled wire from the base of a streetlight, the criminal complaint says.

They got back into the car, drove to another streetlight and pulled wire from it. Officers converged on the area and arrested Tha Dah Htoo, 24, of St. Paul; Dei Gay Moo, 24, of St. Paul; and Paw Hkee La, 21, of St. Paul.

A search of the car turned up spooled wire with wrap labeled, “City of Saint Paul,” the complaint says. Pliers, a wire cutter and screwdriver were also in the car.

The cost to repair the streetlights is estimated to be about $1,400, according to the Monday’s complaints charging Htoo, Moo and La with aiding and abetting felony first-degree damage to property, aiding and abetting felony possession of burglary or theft tools and aiding and abetting misdemeanor theft.

Sold for ‘good money’

Around 5 a.m. Saturday, St. Paul police were sent to the area of Nebraska Avenue and Cohansey Street in the city’s North End after a caller reported that several men appeared to be stealing copper from a light pole. The caller said they were driving a white SUV.

Officers spotted the SUV and pulled it over. Suran Rai, 28, of Maplewood, was behind the wheel. His passengers were Eh Tha Blay, 24, of St. Paul; Win Naing, 28, of St. Paul; and Kwi Win, 39, of St. Paul.

Streetlights on Nebraska Avenue in the two blocks around Cohansey Street were damaged and missing wiring, causing the street to be dark. A number of light poles along Arlington Avenue, one block south, were in the same condition.

In the back of the SUV was a large quantity of copper wiring in spools. Much of it was marked “City of St. Paul Public Works,” the complaint says. On the front passenger-side floor was a backpack with multiple tools and a machete.

Rai said he picked up the passengers and that one of them was “checking” the light pole. When asked why there was so much copper wiring in the SUV, he admitted that they “pull it,” the complaint says.

Blay admitted to being a “lookout” for the wire theft, the complaint says. He said Win and Naing cut the wire as he held a flashlight. He said Rai helped pull the wire.

Blay said the others go out several times a week to pull wire and that he also has done so several times. He said the wire is brought to a house where the “skin” is removed before the wire is sold for “good money.”

Naing and Win declined to talk with police. Win has a prior felony conviction for possession of theft tools, according to court records.

All four men were charged Tuesday with aiding and abetting felony first-degree damage to property and aiding and abetting felony possession of burglary or theft tools.

Increasing costs

Last year, streetlight repair due to wire theft had cost St. Paul’s Public Works Department $777,000 through November. That’s more than seven times the amount for all of 2020, according to city officials.

Separately, the Parks and Recreation Department tracks costs due to wire thefts from streetlights in the city’s parks. The numbers have fluctuated from $116,000 in 2018 to $72,000 in 2020, then up to approximately $300,000 in both 2021 and 2022. The 2023 costs were estimated at $93,000.

Meanwhile, the Ramsey County attorney’s office filed charges in 18 cases last year involving copper wire theft, 11 of which involved streetlights.

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