(Hurricane, UT) - The Hurricane Police Department reports an increased number of thefts involving utility infrastructure within the city, including underground utility lines that still have electricity flowing through them when they are cut and stolen.

Nancy Perkins, Hurricane Police Department public information officer said thieves who cut through live wires raise the risk of personal harm or even death from electrocution. These crimes also cause damage or utility problems to personal property, she said in a Wednesday news release.

The Hurricane Police Department is asking the public’s help in identifying any suspects or suspicious activity in or around any city utility box, vault, transformer or underground utility equipment. Perkins said, “We would like to stop this criminal behavior before the suspects or someone else is hurt."

The public is encouraged to be aware of acticity outside of normal work hours for authorized work on city utilities and to immediately report anyone seen working around a city utility that is not identified with a company uniform and vehicle or equipment.

Anyone who knows anything about these copper wire robberies or observers activity out of the ordinary or suspicious, promptly alert police at (435) 627-4999.