By Jorge Casuso

February 7, 2025 -- Police on Wednesday arrested a suspect who allegedly stole more than 300 pounds of copper wire from electrical pull boxes along Colorado Avenue.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez Alvarado, 43, was spotted by officers at around 1:30 a.m. near the 1500 block of Colorado pushing a city-owned trash container with the stolen wire.

Further investigation found that "the loose wire matched that of recently damaged underground electrical pull boxes at nine locations along Colorado Avenue," said Lt. Lewis Gilmour, the Police Department spokesperson.

Pull boxes are used in electrical systems to make it easier to pull, splice and maintain wiring in a conduit system but do not contain connections.

The copper wire is a key components of Santa Monica's electrical infrastructure that maintains "more than 6,000 streetlights that ensure proper visibility on roadways and sidewalks," police officials said.

"Theft of wire from streetlights is not only illegal, but it also compromises safety, leaving neighborhoods, roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks without light for extended periods.

"Additionally, this criminal activity causes damage to the internal
conduits, disrupting the entire system and requiring significant time, resources, and funding to repair and replace the damaged infrastructure, including the missing wire," officials said.

Gonzalez Alvarado was arrested for grand theft over $950, defacement/damage over $400, possession of a controlled substance
and possession of burglar tools.

Copper theft has plagued the Los Angeles region, as well as other U.S. metro areas, for years, as thieves target wire and pipes made with the metal used as a prime conductor of electricity.

In October 2023, Santa Monica police arrested three suspects after pulling over a vehicle and finding 500 feet of copper wire ("Police Arrest Three Suspects in Copper Theft," October 25, 2023).

Scrap copper currently resells for between $3 and $4 per pound, and its theft can threaten safety and be costly to replace in infrastructure, according to pricing websites.

A 2008 FBI report found that "copper thieves are typically individuals or organized groups who operate independently or in loose association with each other and commit thefts in conjunction with fencing activities and the sale of contraband," the report said.

Last July, a crackdown on the "growing epidemic" of copper wire thefts in Los Angeles led to 82 arrests and the recovery of 2,000 pounds of copper wire, LA City officials said.

The City's "heavy metal task force" established last February represents the "most aggressive" effort to curb thefts that typically leave working-class neighborhoods without streetlighting or internet service, officials said.

Last month, copper wire thieves left a school in the San Francisco Bay area without power for 10 days and cost the Vallejo City Unified School District, which is facing a $12 million shortfall, an estimated $160,000 to repair.

According to a July 2024 report in the New York Times, copper "is at the heart of the evolving economy."

It is a "key component of battery-powered cars, modern electrical grids and the giant new data centers powering artificial intelligence and other technology."

Copper thefts are expected to escalate with a looming global shortage estimated by experts to reach as high as 10 million tons of copper over the next two years, the report said.

“The world can’t get enough copper,’’ Karthik Valluru, global leader of Boston Consulting Group’s materials and process industries sector told the Times. “It is the most important metal when it comes to the energy transition.”

Copper theft has been a problem for decades in metropolitan areas nationwide. An assessment report issued by the FBI in 2008 outlined the wide-ranging impacts on critical infrastructure that pose "a risk to both public safety and national security."

Among the thieves' targets are electrical sub-stations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads, water wells, construction sites and vacant homes, according to the report.

Anyone with information related to Wednesday's copper theft in Santa Monica should email Detective Michael Castruita at michael.castruita@santamonica.gov, Sergeant Cooney at shaun.cooney@santamonica.gov or call the Watch Commander 24 hours at 310-458-8427.