Butte County Sheriff’s officials are hoping Copper thieves will lose some of their incentive now that the owner of a recycling business has been arrested. There had apparently been 25 separate cases of Copper wire theft in the first 9 months of the year, leading to frequent loss of utility services for AT&T and PG&E. In many cases, thieves cut down utility poles to access the wires. Scrap dealers are required to take photos of sellers and wait three days before payouts. Detectives made undercover sales to DK Recycling in Oroville and say they gave fake names and were paid immediately. A search warrant was served Wednesday, with many allegedly stolen materials found. Business owner Jacob Klein was arrested.
-Steve Gibson