A collaborative effort between the California Highway Patrol Gold Run Area and Caltrans early Tuesday morning lead to the arrest of three suspects that were caught stealing copper wire from a traffic advisory message sign on westbound I-80 west of Cisco Grove.  Officer Todd Kettwig of the Gold Run CHP Office says officers caught the thieves red handed coming out of the woods.

“Our officers had been on special surveillance with a collaborative effort with CalTrans concerning copper wire thefts from message sign boards and light standers in the area. Our officers happened to spot a vehicle parked in the area where we’ve been having the thefts, which is up in the Eagle Lakes area near Cisco Grove. As they maintained surveillance, they caught the three suspects coming out of the woods with the copper wire and the tools they used to remove them.”

The three suspects: Herb Henrikson (29), John Paulin (46) and Justin, LeBoutheller (31), all from the North Highlands Area, were arrested with the stolen copper wire in their possession and the tools used to remove it.  All three suspects were taken into custody without injury or incident and booked into the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, where they are being held in custody as further investigation is being conducted.