More than 750 pounds of stolen copper recovered; 2 arrested

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department says it has recovered a significant amount of stolen copper and arrested two people.

The backstory:

APD says officers responded on April 23 at around 8:15 a.m. to the 2900 block of Robinson Avenue following a report of suspicious activity.

A caller said that two people were transferring items from a rental truck to a pickup truck and behaving suspiciously.

When officers arrived, they saw the two men who both initially denied knowledge of the rental vehicle.

During the investigation, officers found that the pickup truck bed was filled with large quantities of cut, heavy-gauge copper wire. 

The rental truck had a switched license plate and further inspection revealed that the vehicle had been flagged in connection with a previous burglary investigation.

APD says its officers also saw additional indications consistent with metal theft.

Dig deeper:

A probable cause search of both the rental and pickup trucks resulted in the recovery and seizure of more than 750 pounds of copper wire, along with tools and other evidence.

Both suspects, identified as John Waring and Michael Fillenworth, were arrested and charged with Unauthorized Possession of Certain Copper/Brass Material. During a search incident to arrest,

Waring was also found to be in possession of cocaine and methamphetamine, resulting in additional felony drug charges.

Waring and Fillenworth both have extensive criminal histories including several felony charges each.

What you can do:

Copper theft remains a persistent issue across the Austin area. These crimes can cause costly damage to electrical systems, construction sites, and public infrastructure, and may create serious safety hazards.

APD encourages residents to report suspicious activity, including:

• Individuals removing or transporting large amounts of wire or metal
• Vehicles with covered or concealed loads, especially near construction or utility areas
• Persons loitering around utility boxes, construction sites, or vacant properties
• Use of tools such as bolt cutters or saws in unusual circumstances

If you see suspicious activity, do not approach. Instead, call 911 for emergencies or 311 for non-emergency concerns. 

What they're saying:

This case highlights a bigger problem.

"They look for copper and they cut our fiber optic lines," Spectrum field operations Vice President Scott Horne said.

Spectrum said thieves are often targeting lines they think contain copper, but don’t.

"A couple of weeks ago, there were over 3,000 fibers cut because of the proximity to one of our data centers," Horne said.

That happened near Wells Branch and left homes and businesses without service. The impact can go even further though.

"With these infrastructure attacks, we're taking about thousands, even hundreds of thousands of folks that it can affect," Austin Police Detective Fernando Chipelo said. "We're talking about if someone has a telehealth appointment that they have to make and now they can't make it. We're taking about 911 operators if someone is calling because they need emergency services. We're talking about if a school needs to call for an emergency or anything."

Detective Chipelo said thieves are trying to cash in.

"They're looking for copper inside the wires. They're looking for any kind of bronze or aluminum, anything that has some kind of precious metal value that they can then take to a metal recycling facility and get some kind reward for it," Detective Chipelo said.

There is little value in fiber. There is a long road to repair it though.

"These are fibers that carry the infrastructure and the communications and really are smaller than a human hair, so imagine having to manually manipulate 3,000 of those and individually slice those back together," Horne said.

Spectrum said it can take anywhere from 6 to 16 hours to restore service. Police said that is why tips like the one from East Austin matter.

"What we need is folks out there looking for people who look like they're not supposed to be there," Horne said.

Spectrum is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest from the cut fiber a couple weeks ago.

Crime and Public SafetyAustin