Perhaps now the copper stealing will stop.

Police yesterday made their first arrest of two copper recyclers who bought 653-pound spools of copper wiring with Hawaiian Electric Co.'s name printed clearly on the side.

Until now the only arrests had been of thieves caught stealing copper. The heists were unlikely to stop as long as recyclers were willing to buy copper.

"We want to send the message to recyclers that police will be checking (on them)," said Kalihi police Maj. Kurt Kendro after a three-month sting operation dubbed "Full Copper Jacket" resulted in the two arrests.

Police investigated five scrap-metals dealers in Kalihi to check if they were complying with state law requiring them to certify purchases only from people who had the lawful right to sell or dispose of scrap.

Losses in copper-theft cases reported to Honolulu police in 2006 surpassed $760,000, Kendro said. Copper prices on world markets have increased dramatically in recent years, prompting criminals to seek out the commodity.

The state Department of Transportation estimated last May that thieves had caused $320,000 in damage by ripping out copper wiring from freeway light fixtures along the Central and West O'ahu corridors.

Resti Paguirigan, a Hawaiian Electric Co. public safety specialist, said HECO had 22 copper-theft incidents in 2006 resulting in "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in losses and has already had 10 thefts in 2007.

"The loss will eventually trickle down to the consumer as operating costs, so any effective way to curb copper theft is significant in our eyes," said Paguirigan, who confirmed that HECO loaned police a 653-pound spool of copper wiring valued at $3,334 as bait for yesterday's sting operation.

One local employee charged yesterday for felony attempted second-degree theft allegedly thought the HECO spool was stolen, but purchased it anyway.

HECO's name clearly appears on the spool and the undercover officer allegedly mentioned it was stolen to the dealer before accepting payment of $1.60 per pound for it, according to Kendro. The market value is nearly double that.

"The operation was directed at copper recyclers to determine who's buying," Kendro said, pointing to the fact that to slow the thefts police must target illegal buyers as well as sellers.

Charged yesterday for felony attempted second-degree theft was Kyung Hee Chon, 44, of Halawa, who was arrested at Aiea Recycling, 1811 Dillingham Blvd., at 12:50 p.m. after allegedly purchasing the HECO spool.

Chon also was charged on four misdemeanor counts for alleged violations of state law requiring recyclers to verify the seller's identity and keep a written statement of the transaction that may be examined at any time during a two-year period by police.

Bail for Chon is $50,000. She was being held at the Kalihi police station yesterday at 7:30 p.m., awaiting transfer to the main police station cellblock.

Rick Chon, owner of Aiea Recycling, did not respond to a request for comment.

Toufaasulu Pulou, 58, of Honokai Hale, an employee of Island Recycling Inc., 1803 Dillingham Blvd., also was charged yesterday for a misdemeanor violation of the scrap-metal law. Her arrest occurred at 12:45 p.m., and Pulou was released about 2 1/2 hours later after posting $2,000 bail. Her appearance at District Court is scheduled for March 15.

Island Recycling operations manager Kevin Cintron was not available for comment, according to employees.

Lawmakers are currently considering making theft of a pound or more of copper a Class-C felony and requiring dealers to take a thumbprint of sellers.

Kendro singled out Okuda Metal as a company doing it the right way.

"If they suspected theft they chased you off the property and never purchased from anyone without asking for ID," Kendro said. "Okuda Metal sets the example, and we hope he bands together with others to push reform."

Air Force special agents assisted police in the investigation.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.