Posted on 10/10/2012 12:25:14 PM PDT by matt04
Officers in Old Saybrook were able to catch a New Haven man in the act of burglarizing the Connecticut Light and Power substation on Bokum Road Monday night.
Police and K-9s surrounded the substation at 10:41 p.m. and arrested Eric Mullen, 34, of 157 South End Rd. Mullen was trying to take metal and wire from the substation to sell as scrap, police said.
"Theft of various metals and wire has been an ongoing problem in the area due to the high price of certain metals at scrap yards," said Police Lt. Kevin R. Roche. "Obviously theft of metal and wire is wrong but theft of metal and wire that may be connected to high voltage can prove to be deadly."
Mullen was charged with sixth-degree larceny and third-degree criminal mischief as well as two counts of third-degree criminal trespass. He is being held on a $10,000 bond and was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on Tuesday.
Police advised residents to never enter a CL&P substation because it is dangerous.
Stealing Copper wire from a substation is rampant.
Most think they are safe stealing the ground wires. The problem is that some of the ground wires are not good to cut. The end up looking like a charred road kill.
The funniest picture I have seen was some guy wearing rubber made gloves with his wool cap singed into his scalp.
Around here a favorite is stealing heat pumps from outside smaller churches where there is little or no activity except on Wednesday night and Sunday.
As a NERC Reliability Coordinator I get the pleasure of reporting everyone of these intrusions into substations.
That is why I get a chuckle every time one of these guys cut the wrong wire. It makes my day.
Copper theft is really an evil thing because the thieves always do far more damage to get the copper than they can make by selling it. I’m overjoyed every time one of the vermin wins a Darwin Award.
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