LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Four people have been arrested in connection to copper wire thefts in Louisville. Louisville Metro Police Seventh Division detectives obtained surveillance video of people stealing the wire.

What You Need To Know

  • Four people have been arrested in connection to copper wire thefts in Louisville 

  • Louisville Metro Police said the theft was caught on a surveillance camera on Cooper Avenue and Filson Fields Drive

  • The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said thefts have cost taxpayers about $1 million since 2020

  • A task force with local, state and private organizations was formed last fall to combat the issue 

LMPD said in its report the video shows two people cutting and then tying the wire to their car. They are then seen driving down the street and ripping the wire down from the poles.

“Officers arrested four people and recovered more than 300 feet of copper wire that belonged to AT&T,” said Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville. 

The video was from Cooper Avenue and Filson Fields Drive in Louisville, and LMPD made the arrests in Fairdale.

“We applaud these latest copper theft arrests and appreciate how local leadership and law enforcement have rallied around this critical community issue,” said Carlos Sanchez, AT&T Kentucky president.

Local, state and private organizations formed the Critical Infrastructure Task Force in Oct. 2024 to combat the theft. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said the theft has caused taxpayers nearly $1 million since 2020.

“Destroying communications lines can keep people from reaching emergency services, putting people at risk in times of crime, injury and crisis,” Sanchez said.“Destroying communications lines can keep people from reaching emergency services, putting people at risk in times of crime, injury and crisis,” Sanchez said.

Greenberg said the task force will continue to find ways to solve the problem. KYTC has been testing a program where it uses solar panels on highway lights in place of copper wire.  

“This focus is going to continue [and] is going to focus on identifying individuals who steal copper wire," Greenberg said. "It's also focused on improvements on ways to prevent copper wire thefts." 

AT&T is offering a $10,000 reward and KYTC is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

Lawmakers in the Kentucky Senate have introduced a bill making it a criminal offense to damage, possess or tamper with key infrastructure, including equipment used to deliver TV, telephone or broadband service.

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