A man and woman stole spools of copper wire off a truck parked at the Prince George weigh scales. The caper was recorded at length on surveillance video. Police are now asking the public to help them get a line on these thieves.
The theft happened in the early hours of Aug. 4 at the Red Rock scales south of the city on Highway 97. A flat-deck tractor-trailer was parked there with a variety of cable spools strapped onto the rig's deck. The couple arrived during the night in a black van and set to work cutting the tie-down straps and making off with three spools of the stuff.
Two of the spools were small enough to lift by hand off the back of the trailer and heft into the back of the van.
One, however, was cable as thick as a forearm wrapped on a spool too big to lift. They yanked it away tied to the back of their getaway van.
"Although not seen in the video, the suspects pull the spool for approximately a kilometer in order to unravel the wire," said Prince George RCMP spokesman Cpl. Craig Douglass. "A significant amount of the larger wire was removed from the spool, before they depart the area. The entire theft takes just under 20 minutes."
The male suspect is described as being Caucasian in his 40s, approximately 173 cm (5'8"), 95 kgs (210 pounds) and was wearing camouflage pants with suspenders, and a ball cap.
The female is described as also being Caucasian, in her 30s, approximately 170 cm (5'7"), 73 kgs (160 pounds), blonde hair and was wearing blue jeans, a light coloured sweater and a ball cap.
Their vehicle is described as a newer, dark coloured GMC Savanna full sized van. It has windows all around. There are decals in the each of the back windows and two aftermarket reverse lights below the rear bumper.
"Although the video is not of the highest quality, investigators believe that there are members of the public that are able to identify the two suspects," said Douglass.
Log on to www.sendtonews.com to view the theft.
If you have any information please contact the Prince George RCMP at (250)561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1(800)222-TIPS (8477), online at www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca, or Text-A-Tip to CRIMES using keyword "pgtips".
