Cable news — off-duty officer spots three men allegedly stealing cable from Port Road, South Road in Adelaide
An off-duty police officer has caught three men allegedly in the act of stealing staggering amounts of copper cabling from one of Adelaide’s busiest roads.
Police & Courts
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Three men have been charged over the theft of more than half a kilometre of underground cabling from one of Adelaide’s busiest roads, after they were allegedly caught in the act by an off-duty police officer.
Further charges are expected to be laid after police found weapons, ammunition, illicit drugs, cannabis and cash stored across three different properties.
Police say the first known cable theft happened between Friday October 23 and Monday October 26 on Port Road at Hindmarsh.
The men were accused of using two large trucks with winches to remove 450 metres of copper cables, which is estimated to have weighed more than a tonne.
Then about 10pm on Thursday, an off-duty police officer noticed trucks parked at the intersection of South and Port roads and three men removing underground cables. Further inspection of the area found that about 200 metres had been removed.
Western District patrols rushed to the scene and arrested the men – a 55-year-old from Morphett Vale, a 48-year-old from Broadview and a 44-year-old from Woodcroft.
Three properties in connection to the men were searched, with police finding a further 275 metres of cable, weapons, ammunition, illicit drugs and cash.
The men were charged with theft and appeared in the Port Adelaide Magistrates on Friday. Police expect further charges to be laid against the men.
Telstra’s regional general manager in SA, Mark Bolton, said copper cables are an important part in Adelaide’s telecommunications network.
“A loss of service can potentially have serious impacts for customers in times of emergencies and also means we need to divert work crews from other tasks to replace or repair the damaged infrastructure,” he said.
“If it doesn’t look like a professional work site with the right safety gear and the right equipment, then it’s probably someone taking cable illegally or messing around with our network.”
Any suspicious activity around building or construction sites should be reported to the police assistance line on 131 444.
Police ask anyone with information on the Port Road cable theft to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.