New Target For Metal Thieves Putting Drivers At Risk, Police Say

INDIANAPOLIS -- A new trend in metal thefts could put drivers at risk if trains lose communication after copper wires at railroad crossings are stolen.

There has been a rash of the thefts recently on the rail line between Indianapolis and Anderson, police said.

"The wire thefts have disrupted the railroad operations severely over the last couple of weeks with the numerous thefts. I know of at least three nights, three separate occasions, where they've come back and taken the signal wire," Indianapolis Police Environmental Enforcement officer Brad Craig told 6News' Jack Rinehart.

Many of the thefts of the wires -- which control crossing gates as well as railroad communications -- have occurred in broad daylight, police said. Last month, environmental police arrested a man stripping wire from railroad switches just east of downtown.

"You're looking at a possible felony charge of criminal recklessness because the act they committed resulted in the potential of someone being severely injured or killed," Craig said.

Once the wires are taken, cutting communication, train operators are required to immediately stop and wait for repairs. Many railroads, including CSX, are in the process of replacing their overhead copper wires with buried fiber optics and microwave communications.