Updated at 1:28 p.m., Friday, November 3, 2006
Electric pole chopped down in attempt to steal copper
Advertiser Staff
A 47-year-old Honolulu man was arrested this morning after he was caught trying to steal copper wire from a utility pole.Honolulu police received a call at 6:35 a.m. of a suspicious person lurking in the area near the Koko Head trail head near the former Job Corps site in Koko Head District Park. Responding officers found the 47-year-old man attempting to remove a transformer box from a felled electric pole, police said.
The pole appeared to be chopped down.
The man was arrested and was found with several wire and bolt cutters attached to long poles.
The transformer was on an old utility pole, police said, and Honolulu firefighters were called to the scene after five police officers and the 47-year-old suspect were exposed to oil from the transformer.
The oil in the soil and on the hands of the police and suspect may contain PCB, a carcinogen.
Five Honolulu police officers and the 47-year-old man were decontaminated with freshwater at the scene.
The 47-year-old was checked out by city Emercengy Medical Services technicians and arrested on suspicion of criminal tampering, a misdemeanor, and second-degree criminal property damage, a felony.
The man was allegedly spotted cutting telephone wire and several homes in the area lost telephone service for several hours, police said.
The criminal tampering charge is tied to the loss of phone service, police said.
