Crime

After Millions In Repairs, I-94 Is Dark Again Because Of Copper Thieves

December 09, 2013, 12:05 PM

Several months after the Michigan Department of Transportation spent millions of dollars to fix streetlights on I-94 in Detroit,  the freeway has once again gone dark.

Diane Cross, a spokesperson for MDOT, said the problem, again, is copper thieves.

“It does seem to be a never-ending chase that we have for the copper thieves and the thieves have for our copper. It’s like we put the wire in and they pull it out,” Cross told WWJ’s Marie Osborne. “It is very dangerous. There are thousands of volts that could kill you, and yet people are willing to do that.”

MDOT is currently working on ways to prevent future copper thefts from taking place. However, Cross said they’re conflicted whether to spend money on repairing the lights, which thieves will likely target again, or funding research into deterrents.

The problem area is between Conner Avenue and 8 Mile Road on the East Side.


Read more:  WWJ-AM


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