By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer
CRANBURY — Someone stole five copper stakes located at a Sprint PCS cell phone tower site on Cranbury Station Road, just east of Route 130,between Jan. 15 and Jan. 23, police said.
The stakes, which have an estimated value of $2,000, were keeping the tower grounded to protect it from a strong electrical current, said Police Chief John Hansen.
”(Lightning) hits the tower and if there’s no place for anything to go that’s when the tower blows,” said Chief Hanson.
A Sprint technician was the first to notice that a padlock was missing from a small enclosure around the area, Chief Hansen said.
Chief Hansen said the issue of copper theft has come up in the past but that it’s not an everyday occurrence and it’s typically something the department would see at a construction site.
”The value of copper has gone up so it makes it a popular thing to steal,” he said.
Although the department has no leads, the investigation is continuing.
”We are patrolling all areas,” he said. “But it’s a fairly large area and we have limited patrol.”
If anyone has information on the theft they should call the Cranbury Police Department at 609-395-0031.
