These are heavy-duty thefts.
As in 80 to 100 pounds a pop.
Stormwater sewer grates have been vanishing from streets around south Snohomish County and other parts of the Puget Sound region.
In Bothell, more than 40 stormwater sewer covers disappeared in recent weeks. Police last week arrested a Redmond man and detectives believe he sold more than 22,000 pounds of storm drains and manhole covers to one scrap dealer, pocketing more than $4,300.
Mountlake Terrace had four grates stolen off its roads. In February, the south King County city of Kent saw nearly 40 storm drain grates and manhole covers stolen from neighborhood streets and businesses. And Kitsap County had to replace more than two dozen last summer.
Police say the stormwater grates are one more target for scrap metal thieves who in recent months have ripped off a wide variety of goods, such as bronze vases from an Everett cemetery and a giant 3,121-pound ship propeller from a Mukilteo maritime company.
“It’s a very national problem and Washington is not immune to it,” said John Carpita, a public works consultant with the Municipal Research and Service Center of Washington.
The man arrested in Bothell, 31, is under investigation for trafficking in stolen property. In addition to the 11 tons of grates and manhole covers sold in Woodinville, the man also is accused of selling 1,600 pounds of covers to an Everett recycler.
Bothell police recovered 67 missing sewer covers. Many likely belong to neighboring cities, Bothell police Capt. Denise Langford said.
The suspect allegedly told the dealers he worked for an asphalt company and the grates were surplus and being replaced as part of a road project. The manager of the Woodinville recycling company said the man brought in storm drain grates almost every day in a black 1983 pickup truck.
The man told police he stole to feed his drug habit, according to court papers.
His arrest doesn’t mean an end to thefts in other cities, Langford said.
“We know he is not the only guy out there,” she said.
Bothell public works officials estimate it costs up to $130 each to replace missing grates on public roads.
The bigger concern is the danger, Langford said. Bicyclists and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to falling through the uncovered holes.
“We were really concerned about it from a public safety standpoint,” she said.
Crews immediately block off areas when grates are missing.
Detectives have found good cooperation from scrap metal recyclers during their investigation, she said.
Scrap metal is an $85 billion industry each year in the United States, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in Washington, D.C. Thieves follow the market.
The man arrested in the Bothell thefts was arrested by police in March for investigation of stealing a different form of metal to sell for scrap. Bothell detectives believe he and his former wife stole more than 50 catalytic converters from cars in Seattle and five Eastside cities.
Mountlake Terrace had four sewer covers stolen. They were taken from a street near a ramp leading to I-5.
Curt Brees, Mountlake Terrace public works director, said other metals, such as copper wire, are lighter and more profitable in the scrap metal market.
“It’s not normally a high-volume market, but there is a lot of weight to them,” he said of drain grates and manhole covers.
In Kent, police don’t have a suspect in the rash of storm drain grates and manhole cover thefts that have occurred over recent months.
“It’s kind of a sporadic problem,” Kent police Lt. Pat Lowery said. “We have some disappear, then the problem seems to move to another jurisdiction.”
Kent road crews have been bolting their grates in place to prevent future thefts, but it’s a gradual process with roughly 20,000 grates and 16,000 manholes in the city.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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