Northwest Harris County – A Northwest Harris County restaurant was forced to delay its grand re-opening after a copper thief damaged a utility pole and left them without power for days.
Miguel Nunez, one of the owners of Juanita’s Mexican Restaurant located near the intersection of Louetta Rd. and Lakewood Forest Dr. told KPRC 2 the incident happened on Nov. 17.
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The thief was caught on camera switching off the power to the pole, cutting through the PVC pipe and using his white pickup to pull out the metal wire.
“From when it started to when he left, it was about 15 minutes,” Nunez said.
Nunez added that it’s the second time the utility pole outside his family-owned business was damaged by thieves. The crime costing him and partners about 6-thousand dollars to repair.
“We actually changed the entire pipe system to all aluminum, and we ran it underground,” Nunez said.
The restaurant shared the video with KPRC 2 in hopes of identifying the person responsible. They also filed a police report with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office who is now investigating.
HCSO is asking anyone with information to call their Metal Theft unit at 713-274-9123