SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Sarasota County has been grappling with an alarming issue: thousands of feet of copper wire have vanished from its street lighting systems. This theft has plunged various roads into darkness and resulted in a hefty bill for taxpayers amounting to tens of thousands of dollars.
In recent months, multiple incidents of copper wire theft have plagued Sarasota County, significantly affecting the functionality of roadway lighting systems across the region, according to county officials.
Doug Johnson, serving as the Acting Community Affairs Manager for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, explained the situation, saying, “Individuals are actively targeting streetlamps and accessing wire pole boxes, cutting the wires and extracting large amounts of wire from these boxes.”
According to Johnson, it is suspected that these thieves are selling the stolen copper wire to scrap yards in exchange for cash.
On 17th Street alone, crews say roughly 9,000 feet of wire was stolen, leading to repair costs of about $45,000.
Another theft on Bahia Vista Street involved 7,000 feet of wire and cost around $9,000 to repair.
This is knocking out streetlights and creating potential hazards for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
“Removing the roadway lighting makes the roads dangerous for everybody, for all motorists,” said Stephen Smagacz, The Supervisor of Streetlights and Signalization for Sarasota County.
Officials say the damage extends far beyond the wire that’s stolen because many roadway lights are connected in a series, and cutting a single section of wire can cause dozens of lights to go dark.
“Once they cut out one light, basically all the lights follow and everything behind that will be out of service,” said Smagacz. “I would imagine that they knocked out probably 40 lights each time they did that, which is a large section of the road.”
The county started replacing copper wire with aluminum alternatives that have little to no resale value, to help reduce future thefts.
However, officials say thieves are still damaging infrastructure, while trying to access the wire.
“If you see people pulling wire out of the ground at two or three o’clock in the morning, know this is not sanctioned by Sarasota County,” Smagacz added.
Officials are asking the public to report any suspicious activity, especially during overnight hours, to law enforcement.