AN INVENTOR has created a simple $300 gadget to stop copper wire thieves from plunging a major US city into darkness – and lawmakers shot it down.
Mark James, spokesman for End Metal Theft, said his firm built a hardened locking cover that fits over the access panel on streetlight poles — making access harder, louder, and riskier for thieves.
Los Angeles, California, has been hammered by copper wire theft for years.
Thieves rip out the underground wiring powering the city’s 220,000-plus streetlights and sell it for cash — copper fetches more than $5.50 a pound right now…