(MENAFN- News Direct) > Copper wire thieves in Los Angeles may not be directly targeting people, but their crimes are hitting close to home for many.

In South LA, a major AT&T vault packed with miles of underground copper cable became a target, and the fallout has been costly. Back in January 2025, thieves broke into the facility and began stripping the wires, leaving behind a mess of cut cables and dangling lines. The damage reportedly knocked out phone, internet and even emergency service connections for thousands of residents. (1)

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"Thirty-two cables were cut that night," Charles Berry, associate director of construction and engineering at AT&T, told ABC7 On Your Side. "Eighty percent of this area that the customers feed were out of service. It's pretty painful to know there are families, hospitals, offices, things of that nature, 911, not working because of theft like this." (2)

According to AT&T, from January to June of this year, Los Angeles leads the nation with over 1,502 reported copper wire thefts, outpacing St. Louis, which ranks second with 483. These crimes can be very costly, and have the potentiel to leave entire neighborhoods digitally stranded.

Copper theft is big business

Breaking into an AT&T vault to steal copper wire isn't exactly a subtle crime. It often requires heavy machinery, and the entry points can include large metal plates that can weigh as much as 1,600 pounds. But with the price of copper having jumped 58% over the past five years, thieves are willing to go to great lengths to get their hands on it.

According to Andrea Moore, AT&T's director of construction and engineering, criminals have been prying open sealed manholes, digging through asphalt and cutting into infrastructure in order to steal copper wire. In response, AT&T has started welding and bolting down vault covers, and even filling some with concrete to make them nearly impossible to remove without a jackhammer.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates copper wire theft costs American businesses around $1 billion each year. Roughly 8% of copper wiring for new construction projects is reportedly stolen before said projects are completed, which equates to about 15.7 million pounds of copper stolen annually - enough to wire more than 112,000 homes. (3)

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A costly crisis

As part of its investigation, ABC7 On Your Side went on a ride along with AT&T officials to get a look at the rampant copper wire theft that's been plaguing L.A. During that trip, ABC7 reporter Carlos Granda discovered the aftermath of copper theft hiding in plain sight.

Near a local scrapyard, Granda and his ride-along team found a broken manhole cover with clear signs of wire theft. And just a short walk from the scrapyard, Granda found a pile of charred conduit cable that still reeked of burnt plastic. AT&T officials believe the smell alone suggests the theft happened just a day or two before Granda and the team arrived on the scene.

"Notice they cut it to the duct, took the cable out, couldn't get the top back on, obviously, the lid, so they put two cones out like we (AT&T) did it," said AT&T technician Michael Houston.

And it's not just telecom companies that are taking the hit - copper thieves reportedly stripped wiring from more than 3,700 Los Angeles streetlights in 2024, according to LAist. (4)

When copper is pulled from a streetlight, it can knock out power to an entire circuit of 18 connected lights, costing roughly $36,000 to fix.

How California is cracking down

California is reportedly tightening the reins on copper theft, as Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 476, a new law that expands reporting requirements while raising penalties for recyclers who buy stolen metal. (5)

Recyclers were already required to record certain information when completing a transaction, like a description of the item and the seller's name. But now they're required to also note the exact time of each transaction and the identity of the employee handling the item. Recyclers are also now required to steer clear of restricted materials from streetlights and EV chargers.

AT&T also says the theft is draining both time and resources. Susan Santana, president of AT&T California-Nevada, said more than 200 technicians are currently working to repair lines in just one community in Los Angeles.

“We'd much rather be building out fiber, building out 5G, connecting the unserved to the Internet, but that's not possible when all these resources are being sucked into this problem," she said.

To combat this growing problem, AT&T is now offering a reward of up to $20,000 for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved with stealing copper wiring.

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Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

ABC7 - YouTube (1 ); ABC7 (2 ); Cision (3 ); LAist (4, 5 )

This article originally appeared on Moneywise under the title: Copper thieves hit AT&T's underground LA vault - as 1,502 incidents in the months since have robbed residents of service

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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