A group of metal thieves taking copper wire from phone lines disrupted 911service to over 500 customers in the Lakeside area on Saturday, January 28, 2017. The Coos County Sheriff’s Office received information at about 9:00 am from Frontier Communications that a phone line had been cut somewhere in the Lakeside area. Frontier officials responded and began searching for the break. Residents of Lakeside, (759 prefix) had their landline 911 and long distance dialing disrupted, but cellular phones continued to function as normal. The Coos County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center in Coquille assigned a Sheriff’s Office dispatcher to the Lakeside Library, due to the “community isolation” of Lakeside, as a result of the line being cut. Landline telephone lines with a 759 prefix were re-routed to telephones at the Lakeside Library and the dispatcher was able to receive 911 calls there. Frontier was able to reroute switchboard abilities for this within the Lakeside area to accommodate this. The dispatcher would receive calls and forward the info to the dispatch center in Coquille. A dispatcher was assigned to man the position at the Library until 3:00 am on Sunday January 29th when service was restored. The cut in the line was located in the area of the Lakeside Cemetery, it is suspected the thieves were able to utilize a ladder against a utility pole, climb up and cut the lines. Once the lines were on the ground, the thieves stole 400 feet of wiring in plastic sheaths. The wire then had to be coiled up and taken away in an unknown vehicle. Thieves involved in this type of operation burn or cut the plastic coating off the wire to collect the copper wiring inside. The copper wire is then sold a a place that buys scrap metals. The current price is about $2.25 per pound for copper. With all of this it is believed that the thieves would have only got about $100 for the wire that was stolen but cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to replace. The crimes committed were Criminal Mischief in the First Degree for interrupting utility service and Theft in the 3rd Degree for the actual cost of the copper. This is the fourth incident with Frontier lines being disrupted in the past month. The metal thieves have hit areas on Seven Devil’s Road near the Wayside, and near Bastendorf Beach twice. One of the Bastendorf incidents triggered alarms at the Sunset Bay State Park which the Oregon State Police responded to. Deputies took the report of the theft of wire. Deputies continue to investigate these incidents. The Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in determining who these thieves are. If you see any one or any vehicle suspicious near utility poles and tampering with the wires please call the Coos County Sheriff’s Office at (541) 396-2106. It is not believed the thieves are using costumes but this is unknown.
