Authorities yesterday charged a 43-year-old man with stealing copper from freeway light fixtures near Makakilo Sunday, and said he is the suspected ringleader of a group responsible for more than $100,000 in copper thefts from Leeward O'ahu freeways in the last six months.

James Bronson Taylor Jr. was charged with copper theft and criminal property damage; each offense is punishable by up to five years in prison. Taylor, who has 15 prior criminal convictions, was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Five deputy sheriffs acting on a tip from the state Department of Transportation watched Taylor walk along a west-bound stretch of H-1 Freeway at the Makakilo off-ramp about 5 a.m. Sunday, said Louise Kim McCoy, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety.

The deputy sheriffs had been staking out the area since 8 p.m. Saturday, watching an electrical box that had been left open with a soft-drink bottle covering a live wire that had been cut. They arrested Taylor after seeing him pull wires out of the open electrical box, Kim McCoy said.

State Department of Transportation electrical foreman Glenn Hamamura identified the copper wire found with Taylor as state property, a police affidavit said. Hamamura estimated about 180 feet of wire was pulled, weighing 70 pounds. He estimated the value of the wiring at $2,000.

"Our sheriffs division believes this individual apprehended this weekend is one of the suspected ringleaders (of a group of copper thieves)," Kim McCoy said. "The investigation is ongoing; we definitely know more individuals are involved."

Miles of H-1 Freeway and H-2 Freeway near Ka Uka Boulevard have been left dark for more than 18 months because of copper thieves. More than $164,300 worth of copper wire has been stolen from light fixtures along O'ahu freeways this year.

Losses to copper thefts reported in 2006 and 2007 surpassed $920,000, police have said, and estimates of the cost to repair damage by copper thieves to state roads exceed $2 million.

Over a 12-day period in April, thieves took 17,250 feet, or 3.3 miles, of copper wire from light fixtures along the H-1 Freeway to sell as scrap metal.

According to KITCO Base Metals, the price of copper hit a five-year high in March and April at just more than $4 a pound.

Tammy Mori, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said crews are working to make sure all copper wire stolen from freeway interchanges and other critical stretches of roadway is replaced.

A joint effort aimed at combating copper thefts between Honolulu police and state deputy sheriffs was launched in September 2006 following a rash of copper thefts at and around Honolulu International Airport.

Evidence gathered from copper thefts at the West Loch Golf Course in September and Hawaiian Cement in Campbell Industrial Park in June 2007 further pushed investigators to try to stop the rash of copper thefts from O'ahu freeways.

Deputy sheriffs and Honolulu police detectives stationed in Kapolei, Pearl City and Kalihi began to regularly share information. Collaboration with Honolulu police led to Sunday's arrest, said Kim McCoy.

"They (state DOT and deputy sheriffs) did a great job," said Honolulu police Maj. Frank T. Fujii.