HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A northwest Harris County restaurant was left without power for days after a thief stole copper-filled cables from a nearby utility pole.
Juanita’s Mexican Kitchen co-owner Miguel Nunez showed our cameras the small pieces of plastic left behind where the incident happened. The thief was caught on security video on Nov. 17 in an area behind Juanita’s new location at the intersection Louetta Road and Lake Forrest Drive.
“He had all of the tools that he needed, he knew what he was doing,” Nunez said.
In security camera video from a neighboring business, the thief can be seen dressed up as a utility worker. At first, he uses a long pole to reach the transformer on top of the power pole. Then, he uses a variety of tools to get to the copper wire before he pulls it from the ground with a truck.
“He started beating the PVC pipe casing with a hammer,” Nunez said. “When that wasn’t enough, he used a saw. Then you can see the guy just grab his truck, pull the wires from the ground and just goes with them.”
Nunez told KHOU 11 the incident left Juanita’s without power for days, which delayed a fire marshal inspection – another setback for the restaurant’s long-planned relocation.
“I was like, 'Really again?' Because it’s been the second time it’s happened, at this point I’m not even shocked," Nunez said. “The last time was six months ago before we even had the power connected.”
Nunez explained that he’s now replaced the copper wires with less expensive aluminum ones in an effort to deter theft.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the Nov. 17 incident. If you recognize the man in the video or have any other information, you're asked to call the sheriff’s office at 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
Across Houston, cases of copper wire theft have increased recently. According to the Houston Police Department, there were 262 cases of cable lines cut by thieves from January to early November. That’s up from 216 for the same time period in 2023.