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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesCopper Wire Thieves Strike Innovative Again

Copper Wire Thieves Strike Innovative Again

Innovative Telephone customers are again experiencing an outage due to another incident of copper wire theft to the company’s outside plant facilities on the island of St. Croix, the company announced Friday.

About 50 feet of 600 pair copper wire was stolen Thursday night from Innovative’s outside plant, the company said. Several customers in the area of Estate Profit were affected by this incident.

This is the 11th incident in four months where telephone service has been interrupted by thieves, who actually climb utility poles to remove copper wire, which they can then sell for the scrap metal value of the copper. Innovative’s technical crews were on site Friday repairing the damage.

Matt Muckelbauer, Innovative’s senior vice president and chief technology officer, said the company is taking steps to stop the thieves.

“We will continue to work closely with the local authorities to prevent future theft on our outside plant cables and we are asking the public, especially in the areas where these acts of theft are prominent, to be very vigilant,” he said.

Purposeful disruption of telecommunication services is a federal offense because it may affect the ability of emergency responders and other individuals to communicate. Innovative has enlisted the aid of both the local and federal authorities to catch the perpetrators. Innovative officials encouraged anyone with information concerning the theft to contact the local authorities.

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