Wire thief accused of doing $90K in damage to Franklin irrigation circles

A 35-year-old Pasco man was tied to at least a dozen cases of stripping wire on Franklin County farms.

Franklin County sheriff’s deputies arrested Ricardo Perez-Ventura in connection with a series of thefts that did $90,000 in damage, Undersheriff Monty Huber said.

Investigators believe Perez-Ventura was part of a group that went onto farms in the area, and pulled wire from irrigation circles, Huber said. He also may have connection to thefts in Walla Walla and Benton counties.

He then took that wire and sold it to metal recycling companies. A combination of video from those businesses, witnesses and cameras in the area allowed detectives to track Perez-Ventura.

“We have to give our community partners credit. We have people who have game cameras and people are calling in suspicious activities,” Huber said. “Between all of those things, we were able to build a good case.”

He was booked into the Franklin County jail on suspicion of first-degree theft, first-degree trafficking in stolen property, first-degree malicious mischief and second-degree trespassing.

Detectives are continuing to investigate the thefts, Huber said. The county has seen a steep increase in the number of irrigation circles hit in the past few months.

The damage to the equipment usually far outweighs the cost of the wire taken from them, Huber said.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office urging people to report any suspicious activity along circle lines. Reports can be made to the non-emergency dispatch number at 509-628-0333.