ST. GEORGE — Thousands of feet of copper wiring stolen from Union Pacific’s rail lines scattered throughout Iron County last year ended up at a recycling facility in St. George – a discovery that led to a felony arrest early Wednesday morning.
The charges stem from a months-long investigation that was opened on Sept. 1, when investigators from Union Pacific were following up on a string of thefts involving pole line wire reportedly stolen from various railroad locations throughout Iron County.
According to an affidavit filed by Adam Cleveland, a special investigator for Union Pacific Railroad, the wire taken is unique to the railroad industry and is designed to carry power, as well as signal system communication, since power lines are not always available in such remote locations.
These railroad lines span across hundreds of miles and Cleveland noted that it makes up part of the critical infrastructure which allows for trains to communicate their locations to the train dispatcher in Omaha, Nebraska. These dispatchers are tasked with operating all train signals. It is the copper that makes up a network that allows trains to travel across the United States without colliding with one another, the agent noted in the report.
Moreover, he noted, the theft involved active pole lines. The wire was in use at the time they were stolen.
Investigators contacted one of the metal recycling facilities in St. George, where they knew loads of stolen copper in prior, unrelated cases had been sold. While speaking to the facility, investigators learned that 36-year-old Meridian Martha Jensen of St. George had made several recent trips to the facility with hundreds of pounds of the copper wiring to sell, the agent said, adding it was the same unique wiring used by Union Pacific.
The recycling facility also sent officers several photos of the wire purchased from Jensen, which showed that someone removed the insulation surrounding the wire by burning it off, which is a common practice among thieves, according to the report.
Later that same day, another railroad agent collected samples of the wire reportedly sold by Jensen from the recycler in St. George, which is when they discovered it was two different types of copper wiring that was sold. The sample of a cut piece of copper wire matched the 6-gauge railroad wiring that was unique to Union Pacific.
Through the course of the investigations, agents obtained records outlining the dates the wiring was scrapped, along with the amount paid during each of the transactions – the first of which took place on Sept. 1, 2021, when Jensen reportedly sold 53 pounds of the copper wiring for $164. Two days later she returned to the recycling facility, according to the report, and sold more than 100 pounds of the material for $331, and on Sept, 14, she sold 108 pounds for $324, following by another transaction two days later when nearly 200 pounds of the copper was sold for more than $598.
The final transaction took place at the end of September when the facility paid Jensen $357 for 110 pounds of “bright and shiny” copper, which was the second type of copper investigators referred to in the report.
In all, more than 570 pounds of the copper wiring was taken from Union Pacific and then sold by Jensen who was paid more than $1,775.
The agents also stated that when converted into feet, nearly 7,200 feet of copper wiring was removed from the rail line. The cost to replace the wiring is estimated to be in excess of $9,120.
With the months-long investigation concluded, agents submitted their findings to the Washington County Attorney’s Office and on Dec. 23, formal charges were filed against Jensen, including one count each of theft by receiving stolen property and theft by deception – each a third-degree felony.
After Jensen failed to appear for a hearing scheduled on March 29, a warrant was issued for her arrest. The suspect was arrested Tuesday shortly before 3 a.m., and was booked into jail in Washington County on the warrant. She was released the following day on a promise to appear and a warrant review hearing is scheduled to take place on June 14 at 5th District Court in St. George.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.