“unusual sound of a grinder” prompts swift arrests in copper theft incident

Two people have been arrested for their part in copper thefts in Christchurch.

Chris Lynch Media has reported a number of recent instances of power line tampering on the Orion network across the city, which closed a pre-school in Dallington.

A police spokesman said on Friday 16 February, two people were taken into custody after they were caught tampering with the wires and police responded swiftly to arrest them.

 “The unusual sound of a grinder on metal woke a member of the public up in the early hours of the morning and they quickly alerted police.”

Since then, a further five reports of wire theft have been made, with the most recent being today on Gayhurst Road around 5:50am and yesterday on Landy Road, Dallington around 5:45am. 

The pair arrested were not the only two involved in this activity and we would caution scrap metal dealers that this is occurring and to be weary of frequent customers the police spokesman said.

“The theft of copper from live wires is extremely dangerous - If someone were to touch these downed lines, they could be badly injured or killed.

 “If you see power equipment that’s been damaged, please call Orion on 0800 363 9898, day or night.

“Police urge residents to ring 111 immediately if you see anyone acting suspiciously around power poles and lines.

We have identified a vehicle of interest – a station wagon – and ask that anyone living in the Dallington area with street facing CCTV that might have captured images of this vehicle to get in touch.”

Anyone with information on incidents overnight can report it to police via 105 quoting 220608/8767.