Ballfields in Maryland’s Anne Arundel and Carroll counties are going dark after thieves stole the facilities’ copper wiring. Officials in these counties are rushing to fix the wiring and reschedule youth sports games and practices while the thieves remain at large.
According to WBAL TV, there are at least six known locations where copper wire thefts have been recently reported. Stealing copper wiring is not a simple task. Those responsible would have needed to know which poles were wired, know how to access the panels and be able to smash concrete.
The estimated cost of replacing the stolen wire at only one field is nearly $18,000. Across the counties, private owners and parks and recreation departments are scrambling to fix the lights. There are also games and practices to reschedule in the meantime, with those changes affecting thousands of youth athletes and their families.
“When you steal the wire, you're putting the fields out of commission where the kids are going to be playing at nighttime. That's going to impact them,” says Bob Hicks, the director of the Carroll County Department of Recreation and Parks. “But then, the financial impact of all the materials that's stolen from us, that means the county has to kind of burden that replacement.”
Frank Roelke is the president of Finksburg Baseball. He told WBAL TV, “There's a piece of vacant conduit in there, that's one of the pieces that was actually stolen, but all the wiring that was damaged will need to be replaced. It's thousands of kids this time of year, just in my area alone. We can't offer those opportunities when those fields are down.”
Now, both counties are considering installing security cameras at the ballfields. Another option to prevent future theft is a costly upgrade to bury the hand-pull ground boxes.
Law enforcement in Maryland is looking into the incidents, and there are possible connections to similar thefts in two other counties. As of this reporting, no one has been arrested for the thefts.
