A copper thief who sliced through traffic-signal wiring at a northeast Portland interchange set the stage for a Dec. 11 crash that killed a motorcyclist, the latest example of metal scavengers turning critical infrastructure into a lethal hazard, police say.

“Some time before the crash, someone cut wires in the transfer box leading to the traffic lights in the intersection,” the bureau said in a news release. “That caused the lights to stop working and is a contributing factor to the crash.”

Investigators say the Freightliner driver exited I-205 southbound, stopped at the dead signal, then began a left turn onto eastbound Airport Way as Goldsmith approached in the right lane and did not stop. Other vehicles waiting at the dark intersection likely kept the two from seeing each other, police said.

No arrests have been announced in the wire theft.

The crash comes as copper theft batters infrastructure nationwide. A survey of internet and phone providers logged 5,770 theft and vandalism incidents targeting communications cables from June through December 2024 — an average of 27 a day — affecting more than 1.5 million customers.

In North Texas alone, AT&T says it has suffered nearly 8,700 copper thefts this year, racking up about $76 million in repair costs and even knocking out 911 and cell service in parts of Dallas, according to Axios.

Copper wire thieves have already been linked to another deadly crash: a Christmas Eve truck strike that killed a man and his dog at a darkened St. Paul, Minnesota, intersection left without working lights because its wiring had been stripped, KSTP reported.