LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Las Vegas Valley leader urges Nevada lawmakers to pass legislation to toughen penalties for copper thieves, in light of a massive outage that impacted the Strip and the airport.
Wednesday, police announced three arrests in a NV Energy substation theft that impacted Harry Reid International airport, a Strip hotel, and left Allegiant Stadium in the dark.
“I would plead to our legislators that this is a safety risk for our neighborhoods. We need the state legislature to come in and codify that law, to make sure that people understand that, just like with catalytic converters, possession cannot be tolerated,” said Commissioner Michael Naft. Allegiant Stadium is in his district.
FOX5 told you about the proposed legislation that would make it illegal to possess stolen copper. The bill is currently being drafted and would mirror the 2023 law to curb catalytic converter thefts.
Some advocates would like to see the punishment for possession as a penalty, though other lawmakers question what the penalty should be.
The 2023 law to crack down on catalytic converters is credited with the dramatic drop in crimes across the Valley and the state.
Naft helped spearhead an ordinance passed Valley-wide to stop the sale of stolen copper to local recyclers.
“Our local police departments are going to continue to enforce the ordinances that we’ve put on the books, but what really needs to happen is, the Legislature needs to treat this like they did catalytic converters: There is no good reason to walk around with stolen copper wire,” Naft said.
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