Increasingly brazen thieves, and the difficulty of protecting copper wire used in freeway lights, are confounding efforts to prevent the crimes and keep sections of H-1 and H-2 lit, authorities say.

In the past three months, copper thieves have stolen wire and caused $108,000 in damage on state roadways, and crews are still working to restore lights on the Leeward stretch of H-1 Freeway and on H-2 heading into Mililani.

Police have at least three felony investigations open in connection with the thefts, but say it is difficult to apprehend the thieves, who may be donning orange vests and hardhats and portraying themselves as state Transportation Department employees, police said.

"Other than actually setting up there (under the bridge and along the roadways), I'm not sure how we can address this problem. It quieted down for a while, but it seems like it's starting back up again," said Maj. Michael Tamashiro, head of the Honolulu Police Department's District 8 operations. "They've got to know what they're doing. You can't go in and just start pulling out wire."

H-1 STRETCH HIT

In the latest incident, thieves stole more than $8,000 worth of copper wire from a box under the Makakilo overpass on Thursday, plunging a stretch of H-1 from Makakilo to Kunia into darkness in both the east- and west-bound lanes.

The thieves made off with 250 feet of copper wire, breaking the electric circuit and disabling a sizable stretch of lights.

Tamashiro said he has directed officers with the Crime Reduction Unit to gather intelligence from local recyclers and others who might have connections to the thieves. Patrol officers have been directed to make routine checks of the roadways and overpasses and to pull over and meet and chat with anyone working on the side of the road, he said.

No arrests have been made.

LIGHTS STILL OUT

More than 50 lights remain out at the H-1 interchange through Mililani, and all lights between Makakilo and Kunia on H-1 are dark.

The Department of Transportation is researching a way to secure the copper wire from thieves in a way that won't hinder workers trying to restore lights in an emergency.

"We're going to have to do some fixing, but if we create a Fort Knox solution, we're prohibiting crews from making repairs in an emergency," said Scott Ishikawa, state DOT spokesman. "We're going to try and hold off (making the repairs) until we can figure a way."

Ishikawa declined to discuss details of the repairs or a timetable, citing security.

Officials said thieves apparently dig up the wire in the day, when the electric current is off. The wires are buried underground or mounted in plastic pipes lashed to the side of jersey barriers or beneath bridges. Circuit boxes, like the one ripped off last week beneath the Maka-kilo overpass, contain conduits wrapped with copper wire.

Contractors replaced the copper wire along H-2 twice but stopped after they realized the thieves were continuing to strike, DOT said. The state buys copper wire for about $3,000 a spool.

HIGH RESALE VALUE

Copper thieves are encouraged by the abundance of copper in accessible locations on O'ahu and the metal's resale value. Copper prices are currently $3.46 a pound, according to the Web site metalprices.com, which tracks world metal markets. The price has increased almost 200 percent in the past year.

Since March, thieves have stolen copper from street lights, churches and school buildings.

Police foiled one man's attempt to tear copper sheeting from the roof of a Board of Water Supply building in May, but he still caused more than $5,000 in damage to the structure.

Last week, police arrested a man who was caught with $200 worth of copper wire behind an abandoned building in Kalihi next to TheBus barn.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.