39-year-old sentenced to probation in connection to copper wire theft in St. Paul
A 39-year-old man will serve probation in connection to copper wire theft in St. Paul.
Kwi Win was sentenced to serve four days in Ramsey County Jail but had credit for four days already served. He must also serve three years of probation.
He was convicted on one count of possession of theft tools. One count of first-degree damage to property was dismissed.
Win was arrested on Jan. 20 after a person reported seeing several men who “appeared to be stealing copper” near the intersection of Nebraska Avenue West and Cohansey Street. The men drove off in a white SUV, according to court documents.
When police stopped the car, they also noticed that multiple light poles in the area were damaged and missing wiring.
While searching the SUV, police found a “large quantity of copper wiring in spools,” much of which was marked “City of St. Paul Public Works.”
The driver of the vehicle, 29-year-old Suran Rai, admitted that the group pulled the wire from “one or two lights.”
Win was the front passenger of the SUV, court documents state. He also has previous convictions for possession of theft tools.
Court documents add the theft of copper wires has caused public endangerment. As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, wire thieves are believed to have targeted an intersection where a man and his dog were killed late last year.
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Ramsey County court documents say the cost to repair damage to a light pole is roughly $4,000, while the cost for each run of copper wire from pole to pole is about $1,000.