‘You never get to buy metal again’: Spike wants scrapyards that buy stolen copper to lose their licenses

Scrapyards that buy stolen copper should permanently lose their licenses, KIRO host Spike O’Neill argued after a copper wire theft attempt knocked out state traffic cameras and other equipment in four western Washington counties.

“Take their license, close their shop. You buy stolen copper, you never get to buy metal again,” Spike said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

The cameras and travel times page on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) website went down Monday morning in Pierce, Thurston, Grays Harbor, and Kitsap counties.

WSDOT Olympic Region communications manager Cara Mitchell told KIRO Newsradio that ramp meters along I-5 in Pierce and Thurston counties had been out for several days because of an attempted wire theft. A cut fiber line took the region’s Traffic Management Center and nearby maintenance facilities offline.

Spike points to scrapyards

Spike and co-host Jake Skorheim contrasted the small payout thieves get with the much higher cost of repairs. Spike cited a figure of $1,000 in copper sold to a scrapyard leading to $100,000 in repairs.

Wire theft costs WSDOT about $1 million every biennium, and that covers only the damage the state can afford to fix.

“They’re not making a million bucks,” Jake said.

Spike pointed to the crackdown on catalytic converter thefts, which he credited to serial numbers on the parts and penalties for buyers of stolen converters. He wants a similar approach for copper buyers.

“The penalty for buying stolen metal is nothing,” Spike said.

He argued that fines don’t stop businesses that can treat penalties as a cost of doing business.

“It’s a slap on the wrist. It’s factored into the cost of doing business,” Spike said.

Spike also questioned how easily people can sell large amounts of scrap metal.

“The fact that people can buy copper in bulk, scrap copper in bulk without getting photo IDs and all these different things-that’s silly. That’s crazy,” Spike said.

He tied the issue to its effect on drivers.

“I’m tired of it. I’m tired of driving across dark bridges,” Spike said.

Jake describes thieves as desperate

Jake described a man recently caught on a bridge who he said was wearing a vest while posing as a WSDOT worker. Authorities found copper wire, cutting tools, and fentanyl.

“So he’s a desperate guy making bad choices,” Jake said.

KIRO hosts joke about guarding wires with snakes

The conversation then shifted into a joke about having snakes guard the copper.

“What if every power pole, every light thing, every one of those copper wires had a rattlesnake, just right there?” Spike said.

Jake suggested copperheads instead and noted that they would need heat in the Northwest’s colder climate. His solution was to use the lights thieves target.

“Take the light that they’re stealing the copper from and make that a heat lamp,” Jake said.

Jake wrapped up the bit with his own summary of the plan.

“We need to stop the copper wire theft, and we also need to find some good homes for a bunch of copperhead snakes out there,” he said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3