A serial copper thief brought the subways to a screeching halt last month when his wire-snipping escapades rendered tunnel traffic lights useless, causing hundreds of delays, the MTA revealed this week.
A scrap metal swindler, identified as 55-year-old Efrain Velez, stopped service on three separate days in October when he snatched copper wires straight off the train tracks at the Bronx 149th Street Grand Concourse station.
Officials revealed the wire-grabbing spree caused the Grand Concourse tunnel traffic lights to switch from green to red — ultimately delaying over 755 subway trains on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 lines.
“The primary driver of October’s weekday on-time performance decline was a series of atypical vandalism incidents, including three committed by the same individual,” NYC Transit president Demetrius Crichlow revealed during an MTA board meeting Wednesday, according to Gothamist.
Velez couldn’t evade the cop-pers and was apprehended on October 14 after he was observed by MTA construction workers climbing over a gate and cutting train wires near the northbound 2 and 5 trains at Grand Concourse, a spokesperson from the NYPD told The Post.
Police apprehended Velez in the construction room, where they placed him under arrest for criminal mischief and trespassing.
It was one of many arrests this year for the notorious wirecutter — who was busted twice in January and February for robbing Bronx businesses of metal and wires, and caught trespassing in a Union Square train tunnel in a separate incident on October 2.
Velez isn’t the first copper bandit in the business. Prince Hayes, 63,has been called a “legend” by law enforcement sources for his career in metal thievery that has spanned nearly 40 years and resulted in a total ban from the MTA.
Copper wire, called “mongo” on the street, goes for $5 a pound, according to the latest market reports, and can be sold for cash at recycling centers and scrapyards.
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