Date:  Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Contact: Kelly Stowe, WSDOT Communications, 360-480-3648

SPANAWAY– While most people were gearing up for Fourth of July celebrations, thieves took the liberty of stealing copper wire from the Washington State Patrol (WSP) scale house located on SR 7 near Spanaway. The theft occurred sometime around July 1.

Thieves pulled the wire that feeds the scale station lighting. Although WSP maintains the scale site, the land is owned and operated by WSDOT.

This is the 95th theft in WSDOT’s Olympic Region since Dec. 2006. The Olympic Region covers Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, Grays Harbor, Clallam, Jefferson, and Mason Counties.

To date, wire theft repair and replacement costs have drained WSDOT’s maintenance and operations budget of a half million dollars. This adds to the budget shortfall caused by the unusually harsh winter earlier this year.

Along with budget impacts, wire theft jeopardizes motorist safety when traffic signals are disabled or lighting along highways goes dark.

The public can help by notifying law enforcement of any suspicious activity they see along the roadway by dialing 9-1-1. Anyone with information regarding wire theft is encouraged to call WSP’s toll-free anonymous tip line at 1-866-976-WIRE.

For more information on wire-theft, please visit http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Maintenance/material/theft.htm.

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