Undercover officer, vehicle tracking lead to charges in St. Paul copper wire thefts

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·5 min read
9

An informant, police tracking of vehicles and an undercover officer helped lead to five people who are now charged with copper wire theft from St. Paul streetlights with an estimated repair cost to the city of more than $200,000, according to recently filed criminal complaints.

In another case charged Friday, St. Paul police discovered 45 damaged streetlights with an estimated repair cost of $225,000.

St. Paul spent $1.2 million last year on repair and replacement due to wire theft and accompanying damage to streetlights and traffic signals, compared with $250,000 in 2019, according to the city. Electric car chargers, window air-conditioning systems and other infrastructure has also been targeted.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office made accusations against six St. Paul residents in charges filed Friday. The criminal complaints give the following information from prosecutors:

Police received information in January from an informant that Kyaw Klay, 40, organized a crew who went out and damaged streetlights, removing wire from them. An attorney for Kyaw Klay couldn’t be reached Tuesday.

Kyaw Klay and Paw Hkee La, 21, then sold the wire to recycling facilities, including Dem-Con Metal Recycling in Blaine, the informant said.

Dem-Con paid about $3 per pound for copper wiring that had been removed from its insulation and $2 per pound for such wiring that was stamped with “City of St. Paul Public Works” on its insulation.

Dem-Con Metal Recycling is part of the scrap alert network “and we take it very seriously,” said Erik Schuck, the company’s chief operating officer, on Tuesday. “In particular, we were working with the authorities … on this and we are glad to see that these individuals have been apprehended.”

Officers conducted surveillance and saw Kyaw Klay and two others went to Dem-Con on Feb. 5 and sold 127 pounds of copper for $387.

“Kyaw Klay was so familiar to employees at Dem-Con that they no longer asked him for his identification when he brought copper in to sell to them,” the complaint said. State law specifies that scrap metal dealers must make a record of every purchase of scrap metal, which includes getting a copy of the seller’s ID.

Schuck said he couldn’t comment on specific allegations in the complaint.

Kyaw Klay completed 31 transactions with Dem-Con between Nov. 10 and Jan. 15, receiving $12,169 in total.

Undercover officer, vehicle tracking

An undercover officer made arrangements for Kyaw Klay to sell “stolen” copper wire to Dem-Con on his behalf, with the officer telling the man he would get half the money from the sale. The officer was provided with copper wire from the department’s property room that had “City of St. Paul Public Works” stamped on its insulation.

The officer went with Kyaw Klay and Paw La on Feb. 7 to Dem-Con. An employee accepted stripped copper wires that Kyaw Klay brought and the undercover officer’s wire marked with “City of St. Paul,” and Kyaw Klay wasn’t asked to show his ID.

The informant previously told police that Kyaw Klay collected the stolen wire in a Toyota Camry and police obtained a warrant to put a tracking device on the car. On Feb. 16 about 12:45 a.m., officers tracked the car to the area of Mississippi River Boulevard and Dayton Avenue.

Officers on surveillance saw several people cutting wire from streetlights on the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street Bridge and later from streetlights near Marshall Avenue and Mississippi River Boulevard. About 25 streetlights were found damaged, with wires cut and removed, in the area of the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street Bridge. The estimate to repair them is about $125,000.

Police stopped the Toyota Camry and identified Kyaw Klay as the driver and Paw La as the front seat passenger. Eh Tha Blay, 25, and Aye Mae, 42, were the backseat passengers.

Police obtained another tracker warrant for a different Toyota Camry. Officers saw that car parked near the Highland Aquatic Center at 12:20 a.m. Feb. 23 and found 17 damaged streetlights around the pool with the wire cut from them. It’s an estimated $85,000 to repair those lights.

Police pulled over the Camry, and identified the driver as Nay Thar, 36, and the passenger as Eh Blay.

There was cut copper wire at Eh Blay’s feet. Police arrested the pair and Eh Blay told investigators he makes money by following friends who pull copper wire from light poles. He said no one in the car stole wire that night and he had tools because he fixes vehicles.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged Eh Blay, Kyaw Klay, Paw La, Aye Mae and Nay Thar on Friday with aiding and abetting energy or telecom damage, first-degree criminal damage to property and possession of burglary or theft tools.

Warner Road lights

Also charged Friday with the same offenses was Gay Gay, 44. Officers conducting surveillance on Feb. 23 saw Gay Gay walking by the Mississippi River, carrying a large bag and stopping near inoperable streetlights, according to the complaint against him.

Police found him parked in Lower Landing Park on Warner Road at 2:25 a.m. There was a large amount of cut copper wire in the vehicle, the complaint said.

Investigators found more than 45 streetlights along Warner Road had fresh damage and copper wire stripped from them. It’s an estimated $225,000 to repair them.

Five of the six people, with the exception of Aye Mae, have been charged with similar offenses this year.

Two St. Paul legislators are sponsoring bills that would require anyone selling copper metal to have a state-issued license. Construction contractors, people who work in residential trades and other licensed workers would continue to be allowed to sell copper and wouldn’t need a separate license. The bills would still allow residents and businesses to recycle copper materials with scrap metal companies for free.

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