Houston police arrested three people accused of damaging hundreds of telecom cables in a northeast side neighborhood. Police said the trio was hoping to steal copper wire, but mistakenly cut fiber optic cables.
Investigators said the group started cutting cables off Fulton near Fichter after midnight on Monday. The sound of a saw and interrupted internet access alerted residents, who called police.
“It was like watching an episode of cops in my front yard,” said Jacob Benavides. “I peeked out and I could see a guy with a ladder, like trying to cut these lines up here, and so I shouted at him and he took off running.”
When police initially arrived, the group was gone. However, Benavides said the group was only spooked temporarily and returned a little over an hour later to try to haul away the downed cable lines.
“They see me looking through the window, and the dude comes walking up to the door aggressively with the saw in his hand, and then he cuts to the backyard. So I run, grab my weapon from the back of the house, and start to chase the dude out the back,” said Benavides.
Neighbors again dialed 911, and this time officers arrived while the would-be thieves were still in the area. Both police and Benavides said the group tried unsuccessfully to use a tow strap to haul off the cables, but it snapped.
When officers found the group’s SUV, they found half of a tow strap tied to the bumper, which matched the other half of the strap still tied around the downed cables.
“We had the neighbors out, we all had flashlights, we were trying to beam the dudes with lights just so that the cops could see them. We were doing everything we could to help,” said Benavides.
A detective with Houston police’s metal-theft unit, Kyle Brauner, said what the group was trying to steal was worthless to them because fiber optic cable lines contain no precious metals.
“They made a mistake and cut the wrong wires,” said Brauner. “They can’t go to the scrap yard and sell it because it’s not worth anything.”
Brauner said a lot of thieves don’t know what they’re cutting and often sever fiber lines in their search for copper wire.
HPD spearheads a task force targeting telecom theft and vandalism. The task force is comprised of area law enforcement and telecom companies like Comcast and AT&T.
Court records show Jerrell Hatchet, 37, Manuel Rodriguez, 58, and Sabrina Perez, 33, were all charged with first-degree felony criminal mischief. Court documents read that the trio caused $300,000 in damage. Harris County records show all three have a prior criminal history and remain in jail.
2 Investigates previously reported on the growing number of cases involving telecom vandalism and theft. Harris District Attorney Sean Teare also told KPRC 2 that prosecuting these cases is a priority.
The lines damaged in this case belong to AT&T, and a company official sent us the following statement.
“Copper theft has become a serious problem with significant impacts on the economy, public safety, and critical communications infrastructure. When theft and vandalism impact our network, we actively work with local law enforcement as they investigate to find those responsible.”
Additionally, AT&T, as well as other telecom companies, support recent efforts to strengthen state laws that increase penalties and ban the possession of telecom-related copper wire.
Two bills were filed in Austin this legislative session to address this crime.
