KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two men found by Kansas City, Missouri, police officers with 70 feet of copper wire on the ground near a vehicle were charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with damage to a critical infrastructure facility.
David Raisbeck, 47, and Christopher Shane, 54, both of Independence, were in the Jackson County Jail Tuesday afternoon.
The crime allegedly happened just after midnight on Monday. The court document does not reveal where police found the two men.
Raisbeck tried to get into the passenger side of a vehicle when a police officer also walked to the vehicle's passenger side.
The officer saw about 70 feet of copper wire cable pulled onto the sidewalk from a manhole, according to the court document.
In addition, officers found a log chain attached to the hitch of the vehicle and a ladder in the back of the truck.
"These tools were consistent with climbing down into a manhole and connecting copper wire to pull it from the ground," the court document states. "This method of crime is one that has been occurring in the Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri area."
Officers also found a battery-powered cutting device, manual wire cutters, a winch and other cutters in the bed of the vehicle, the court document states.
A representative from the company that owns the copper wiring estimated the damage at $50,000.
"These cables are part of critical infrastructure within Kansas City which can disrupt business operations, government operations and medical facilities," the court document states. "During 2024 to date, companies have experienced the cutting of cables in similar fashion that have also contained communication wires disrupting 911 operations to both KCPD and KCFD, as well as other departments in the Kansas City Metropolitan area. At least three cable thefts/fiber cuts occurring in the last year or so have resulted in the loss of all communications to the Jackson County, Missouri, courthouses in both downtown and Independence, Missouri, as well as the Jackson County Sheriff's Office."
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