SAN JOSE — Patrol officers early Saturday morning stopped the in-progress theft of copper wire from an overhead phone line near San Felipe Road and Meadowlands Lane, while warning of a growing national crime problem that can lead to the disruption of essential power, water, telecommunications and internet services.

A San Jose police press release said that officers found an adult male suspect hiding in bushes near the entrance to the Meadowlands neighborhood in a southeastern section of the city. The man had cut down overhead copper-wire phone lines, sliced them up into pieces and stashed them into plastic bags along the roadside, the release said. The man also was in possession of heavy-duty wire cutters and additional empty bags, the release added.

Down the road, officers found a woman in a parked vehicle. Police said she appeared ready to help haul away the stolen copper. The man and woman were both arrested on suspicion of grand theft, conspiracy and possession of burglary tools.

According to the New York Times and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, metal theft has been an urban plague for decades, but it’s been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic due to a number of factors, including a soaring demand for metals. Thieves are known to strip copper wire out of phone lines or streetlights and sell it to scrap metal recyclers for cash.

Past thefts have caused websites for California state agencies to go offline and disabled the approach lighting for a runway at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to the insurance bureau. Thieves also have been electrocuted while trying to steal copper from live wires.

“Copper theft cuts deeper than cables,” the police press release said. “It endangers lives, cripples essential services, and carries serious criminal consequences.”