Thief Busted With $6K Worth of Stolen Irrigation Wire near Soap Lake

The Grant County Sheriff's Office says teamwork with an area farmer helped lead to the arrest of a man who cut thousands of dollars worth of copper wire from an irrigation system.

   Suspect stole $6K worth of copper wire

A Quincy man is in the Grant County Jail following an overnight arrest. Around 8 PM Thursday night, Deputies received a call from a farmer who received a field alert on his security system. The report indicated activity on his property.

When Deputies arrived at the area near the intersection of Road 18-Northeast and Road I-Northeast, two officers began to inspect a large circle pivot irrigation system, while two others began to search the area. The location is a remote area east of Soap Lake and north of Moses Lake.

Deputies stopped a suspicious truck that was spotted not far away and found what was said to be at least $6,000 worth of copper and other wire in the bed. The driver, Joseph Byrd of Quincy, was spotted with his truck on the farmer's security camera, and shoeprints at the scene matched what Byrd was wearing.

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He's now in the Grant County Jail facing multiple charges. A few years ago, copper wire thefts were common in our region but then gave way to catalytic converter theft. Suspects found it was easier to saw off a converter and recycle it, as it brings more cash than having to round up copper wire.