City of Kent workers stop wire theft in progress
Jan 20, 2026, 6:19 PM
A Kent Police Department vehicle can be seen on a city street. (Photo courtesy of the Kent Police Department)
(Photo courtesy of the Kent Police Department)
A pair of Kent public works employees thwarted a wire theft in progress last week, police said.
It happened Jan. 14 near 4th Avenue South and Willis Street.
Two City of Kent Public Works engineering techs saw someone stealing wire from what are known as “junction boxes,” the Kent Police Department said in a Facebook post.
“These are the boxes that control the intersection signals, the cameras, and are the link between the signals and the railroad crossing arms,” the post stated. “To be clear, the boxes do not control the railroad arms themselves but do talk to the arms to help ease congestion around the tracks when the arms are activated.”
City policy prevents employees from intervening in cases like this. But while one of the techs called 911, the suspect figured out he was being watched, according to the post.
He abandoned his bike and trailer and tried to walk away. But the other tech “trailed at a respectable distance, keeping an eye on him and calling 911 to give updates. He reported that the suspect ran southbound up the northbound off-ramp to 167.”
Before the guy took off, one of the techs was able to snap a photo of him.
“In the photo the suspect was kneeling next to the open box with wires seen hanging out,” the post said. “There is ‘iron clad’ evidence, and then there is this next level evidence provided by Jay and Dan (the techs).”
Damage is estimated at $10,000. The wire the suspect tried to steal is worth about $100.
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“We don’t have enough great words to say about Dan and Jay,” police said. “Their actions were the textbook version of see something say something, remain calm, be a good observer and a great witness. You guys were the key in getting this suspect captured and we can’t thank you enough.”
Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.
