Copper Wire News
Fort Worth police arrest 3 copper thieves caught in the act

Copper wire.
The Fort Worth Police Department has made a tiny dent in the copper theft world, putting three suspects behind bars for their involvement in copper cable theft.
According to a release, the thieves were even caught in the act. On Monday, January 20, Northwest Division officers responded to a suspicious person call in the 2900 block of Shamrock Ave. where it was reported that three people appeared to remove copper from a building.
Once officers arrived at the location, they arrested three suspects. Each was charged with one count of Theft of Material aluminum/bronze/copper/brass, under $20K; a felony offense:
- Danny Kempe, 57, of Fort Worth
- Sheldon Witt, 48, of Fort Worth
- Darcie Jackson, 42, of Granbury
In a subsequent investigation, officers used a variety of information — from the Lake Worth Police Department, the Real Time Crime Center, and surveillance video — to determine where the copper was taken from, and confirm the suspects’ involvement.
The investigation recovered 155 pounds of copper wire valued at $675.80.
Copper cable theft is onerous because it can affect and disrupt critical communication services for citizens and businesses.
Fort Worth has seen a surge in the past two years: According to AT&T figures, theft of copper climbed by 545 percent from 2022 to 2024, and theft of other metals went up by 53 percent. Cars pull up and attach the cable, then drive away with it dragging after them. AT&T has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
A July 2024 story by the New York Times titled "Metal Thieves Are Stripping America's Cities," noted that copper and other valuable materials are being stolen in cities across the U.S. from streetlights, statues, and gravesites, costing millions to repair. Back in 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that metal theft cost U.S. businesses around $1 billion a year, and that was more than a decade ago.
The success of the case in Fort Worth was due to contributions from the Lake Worth Police Department, with detectives from Fort Worth's Northwest Property Crimes Unit, Metal Theft Unit, and Northwest Patrol.