Thieves steal dangerous electrical wire from Warren

WARREN

Ohio Edison says the thief or thieves who took 70 feet of braided, steel ground wire from a substation on Mahoning Avenue are putting themselves at great risk and raising costs for all electricity users.

“Any time ground wire is involved, there’s a safety issue,” said Mark Durbin, Ohio Edison spokesman. “It could cause injury or potentially kill them,” Durbin said, noting that people have been killed in similar incidents.

Ohio Edison reported Thursday morning the wire had been taken from a substation near Maryland Street Northwest. The thief or thieves also cut the fence around the substation, apparently to get in, police said. Ground wire is generally at the topmost part of a telephone pole or runs from a pole down to the ground, Durbin said.