After copper theft, Memorial Stadium repairs to begin

EVERETT — Repairs are set to start Monday at Memorial Stadium, where the lighting system recently was knocked out by copper thieves with some apparent technical know-how.

The repair work could continue through March 27, Everett Public Schools spokeswoman Mary Waggoner said.

It appears that the thieves broke open a locked gate, and possibly drove a vehicle down to the fields, Waggoner said.

There, they pulled roughly $11,000 worth of copper wire from underground, between electric boxes. The wire was part of the stadium’s outdoor lighting system.

The theft likely involved a winch, Waggoner said.

“It took quite a bit of torque,” she said.

The theft was discovered Feb. 19 but it’s not clear exactly when it took place, Everett police officer Aaron Snell said.

“We collected some evidence at the scene,” he said. “There are not that many leads at this point in time to go on.” The district was required to seek bids for the work, Waggoner said.

The stadium site on Broadway houses Aquasox minor league baseball games and also fields for high school football and soccer. Athletes could be seen practicing there not long after dawn Friday.

The scrap metal industry is worth morethan $87 billion yearly in the U.S. Thieves follow the market and know the stolen metal can be hard to trace.

In Snohomish County over the years, crooks have stolen church bells, funeral urns, bronze vases from grave sites, catalytic converters from cars, brass fittings for firefighting, sewer grates, manhole covers, copper cable wire used for Internet access and even a 3,121-pound propeller.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

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