Orange police Tuesday had two more incidents of AT&T cable lines being cut from poles. Thieves have been plaguing the county in recent weeks by cutting down the lines. The cables contain copper, which can be sold to metal dealers.

The first incident was in the 900 block of Allie Payne Road east of Highway 87 North. Police at 5:50 a.m. Saturday caught a cable thief suspect near the same spot after getting a 911 call about a possible cable thief.

Officer R.D. Cowart reported he had a 911 call to the site at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday after someone spotted a possible cable cutter. When he arrived, the suspect was gone. A length of cut cable was found by a nearby house.

Tuesday afternoon, an AT&T employee called after discovering cut cable lines when a business customer off Interstate 10 reported a service outage. Officer T.P. Pruitt reported he went to the 2600 block of Eighth Street at 1:13 p.m. The street is in the Brownwood neighborhood behind the Interstate 10 East frontage road.

Pruitt said 60 feet of a copper cable had been cut along with 60 feet of fiber optic cable.  The copper cable was valued at $840 and the fiber optic cable valued at $1,200.

If anyone sees suspicious activity near aerial cable lines they should call 911. Cable cutting thieves have struck in the middle of the day and at night.

Written by Margaret Toal