2 arrested on suspicion of stealing copper from city light pole

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of ripping copper wiring out of a city of Las Vegas light pole, police said.

Police said they received a report of two men ripping the wiring out of the pole on the west side of Industrial Road at Wyoming Avenue on Thursday at 2:17 p.m.

“An officer stated they located the suspects and they were both still ripping wires out of the light pole,” police wrote in an arrest report for one of the men.

Police said they found one of the men hiding in a dumpster. Another was arrested at the scene.

Arrest reports indicate the men arrested are Jimi McDougal, 26, and John Tyler Burt, 31. One of the suspects said they planned to pawn wiring at a local business. Both remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center as of Wednesday morning.

Both men were booked on suspicion of trespassing, destroying property of another, and theft of scrap metal.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported recently that the rising price of copper could be behind recent thefts of wiring from light poles that have made night travel in the Spaghetti Bowl hazardous.

The Nevada Department of Transportation estimates it will take $140,000 in wiring and labor replacement costs to get lights activated for about 20 poles.

Prices for copper reached $7,034 per ton this week — the highest level since June 2018, according to agminer.com.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.