SUGAR LAND, Texas – Thieves stole thousands of dollars’ worth of copper wire from a Sugar Land dental business this week. This is the latest of several Houston-area companies that have been affected recently.
Orthodontist Dr. Wael Kanaan is the owner of the location.
“They cut the wires. This would make the wires free so they can drag them out,” he said. “Otherwise, they’ll be connecting with these heavy connectors which they can’t pull out.” The copper is on a light pole and the wires are 160 feet underneath the ground.
“They bring a chain with a heavy-duty truck, and you can see the marks. They pull it. You see how the cable is cut, and the chain is cut. And then, they went this way.” Kanaan said.
KPRC 2 arrived at the scene and saw a crew Kanaan hired was working on repairs. A worker said plastic PVC made it easy for the thieves to nab their heavy wiring in no time.
“These are heavy wires. That’s not something that ordinary people can do,” Kanaan said.
The city of Sugar Land confirmed this is the third such crime since March, but Kanaan disagrees.
“I think this is underreported. I think it’s more than three because the Shell gas station was hit after me. The doctor was hit two weeks before me. I was hit twice,” he said.
Kanaan was also robbed in March and all surveillance cameras captured were the lights of a vehicle getting away and two trucks coming to the scene after reports of the theft.
It will cost $20,000 to get the power back up at the business, and this time Kanaan said he’s using steel.