INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — AT&T is offering up to a $5,000 reward to anyone caught stealing copper wires around Brown, Marion, and Shelby counties. This also includes any information that can lead to an arrest or conviction of theft, vandalism, attempted sale or purchase of stolen copper wires.

Bill Soards, President of AT&T Indiana said, “when that occurs it causes disruption to our consumers to connect to the outside world.”

Soards told News 8 the recent outages in the Southwest side of Indianapolis were caused by a copper theft. He said thieves left some of the wires dangling on telephone poles.

While the vast majority of customers utilize wireless and fiber optics, Soards said copper wire services are still being used in traditional telephone services, businesses, hospitals, and emergency services.

“We’re asking local customers to call local enforcement if you see someone in an unmarked AT&T vehicle cutting or removing any copper wires frequently from an aerial telephone pole to report those things to law enforcement and local AT&T security,” said Soards.

Soards said copper wire thefts started ramping up in the past year since the price of copper jumped. It’s also not just a local problem, but a national one. Thieves have striped metal in parts of Texas and California.

“Copper is an important ingredient that goes into all kinds of emerging technology like electric cars, wind turbines, and solar panels. Price of copper has gone up and so copper thefts have gone up dramatically,” said Soards.

AT&T is partnering with IMPD, Shelby County, and Brown County Sheriff’s Department.

Tipsters can remain anonymous when reporting to local authorities and/or AT&T’s security team at (800) 807-4205. The reward is valid for leads received by May 18, 2025.