'It doesn't make any sense': Copper wire thieves targeting small business rooftops

A number of small business owners along Tecumseh Road East in Windsor are frustrated after a recent string of copper wire thefts.

MacLaren's Digital Photo Lab owner Brad MacLaren said staff found themselves in the dark Wednesday morning, after thieves found their way on top of the flat rooftop of the business building.

"I guess it's really popular up and along Tecumseh Road here," stated MacLaren, who said his store and others nearby were targeted on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

"They're looking for a flat roof to jump on, and they go up, cut the live wires, which in the middle of the night I don't think it's too healthy, and then come down into the alley and pull them all down through the stack and take off with them."

MacLaren said he had to get an emergency electrician, while praising ENWIN Utilities for their fast response, noting the repair bill cost several thousand dollars.

"Not to add any popularity to these people, but the ENWIN guy said it's a man and a woman, and the woman travels around looking for good spots, if you want to call it that, and then he moves in during the night."

It was a similar situation one block east at Endy's Supermarket, where the owner said thieves struck sometime Tuesday night.

"Oh, it was really awful. Like, I just came in in the morning and noticed there was no power," exclaimed Evan Uadiale.

"I was having a heart attack!"

Evan Uadiale inspecting his business, Endy's Supermarket, on Tecumseh Road East in Windsor, Ont. on Nov. 7, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Uadiale explained the business has freezers that must always be on.

“For the whole night, the freezer was actually off because there was no power,” he said.

“And some of the items, naturally, went bad. We had to throw some of them away."

Uadiale said upon talking to an electrician, they confirmed has been a common occurrence.

Both Uadiale and MacLaren said they learned other neighbouring businesses along Tecumseh Road East were also impacted by vandals.

In a statement to CTV News, an ENWIN spokesperson said:

ENWIN is aware of thefts of our customers’ copper wires and want to emphasize the extreme danger of such activities. These thefts cause power disruptions and have resulted in severe injuries to individuals attempting them. Our primary role in these situations is to ensure electrical safety once we're alerted to an issue. To combat wire theft on ENWIN infrastructure, we've been proactively replacing copper wire with copper-clad steel wire, which has no scrap value and is much more difficult to cut, deterring potential thieves and protecting our infrastructure. We urge residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity around electrical infrastructure to Windsor Police immediately. For power-related emergencies or to report outages, please contact our 24/7 customer service line at 519-255-2727.

Officials noted they were unable to confirm how many instances of copper wire theft had occurred.

CTV News reached out to Windsor Police for further detail, but was told police could not provide any information.