Part of a nationwide trend, methamphetamine addicts who steal copper wiring to sell continue to plague the Truckee Meadows and Northern Nevada, authorities said.

Nicknamed "scrappers," the thieves cruise neighborhoods for pipes or tubing left at construction sites and can sell them for $3 a pound at recycling centers, police say. Others scan state highways or city streets for electrical or phone wiring. Some break through concrete barriers inside electrical boxes to pull out copper wiring.

Police say citizens should be concerned, because they ultimately will pay the price when utility bills and taxes are increased. Authorities want calls from anyone seeing suspicious people along roadway shoulders or lurking around construction sites or power lines.

Police are looking for John D. Murdock, 42, who was charged last week in a warrant related to copper wire thefts earlier this month from two California Department of Transportation junction boxes along Interstate 80. The theft disabled an electronic road sign.

California department of transportation spokeswoman Shelley Chernicki said the combined damage was about $13,000. Repairs can't be made until the California state budget is passed, she said.

Richard Warren Fimby and two other men were arrested in June in Churchill County on copper wire theft charges, while he was on bail awaiting sentencing in the theft of copper from a de-energized Sierra Pacific Power Co. line that will cost $1.5 million to repair and replace. The trio was booked after deputies found stolen metal from Fallon buildings in the back of their pickup.

"It's an opportunity theft no matter where these thieves go," Truckee Police Chief Scott Berry said. "Truckee has a lot of back roads and mountains and is out of the way, but these are desperate people who are going to take it where they can get it."

While thefts of metal are not new, the theft of copper has risen in recent years due to its rising cost. Many recycling centers are demanding identification from sellers and a signed statement about how they obtained the metal. The centers send the information to police.

Reno police Detective Gary Quam said when centers buy suspicious metals they put it aside for police who check their burglary and theft cases. Quam said many of the community's downtrodden might steal a small amount of copper to earn just enough money for alcohol or other small purchases.

"Everyone is doing it," Quam said of the thefts. "Everyone had been doing it."

Truckee police Detective Bill Mardison said Murdock fled from his truck earlier this month on an Interstate 80 ramp to California 267 when an officer approached. Police found construction hard hats with company logos, orange safety vests, a vest marked "Police" and an emergency light in the truck.

"We are inundated with copper wire thefts just like every other area in the region," Mardison said.

Quam said Murdock is wanted for questioning related to copper thefts in June. He vehicles disguised as utility trucks are being used as a cover to steal copper wiring from underground electrical vaults.

Fimby suffered burns from the power line, police said, but others have been electrocuted. Earlier this month, a 41-year-old Maryland man died after he tried to steal wiring from an abandoned store. Last week, a 22-year-old Ohio man was electrocuted trying to steal wire from a power line.