A west El Paso strip mall lost power overnight, and police said thieves are to blame.

Electrical crews spent Thursday morning yanking out what's left of the wiring in an electrical box. Overnight, thieves broke into the box, stealing the copper wiring inside, and shutting off the power to the stores in front of the box.


"When I came in and found out we had no lights, I thought that it was going to be so bad that we were going to have to tell all these people about us not having power," said Christian Arias who works at America's Best Karate.

Arias walked into work to find a dark dojo.

"If we had electricity we would be getting ready for classes, maybe have a hundred students coming in tonight and training with their families. We're going to have to shut down for safety purposes," said Arias.

The effect isn't just financial, it's also emotional.

"These kids get all excited to come to class and a lot of them are going to be pretty sad that we have to close today," said Arias.

The blackout was also a hassle to a  family's schedule.

"We should have a makeup class, so by next week we should be able to make up the time we missed," said Arias.

He doesn't understand why anyone would put their life at risk for a theft.

"I think when they are stealing the copper its real dangerous," said Arias.

"There has been cases where people have been electrocuted. Obviously they don't know or don't have the knowledge they think they do, when they are trying to take something like that apart," said El Paso Police Officer Javier Sambrano.

El Paso police said the trick to stopping this type of crime is to simply keep an eye out for anything unusual in your surroundings.

"If you see a vehicle parked in front of business that appears to be closed and you see someone on some sort of electrical or plumbing issue at night time, just call it in," said Sambrano.

The lights have been turned on in the strip mall. However, several shops at the mall say that they lost business because of the blackout.

El Paso Electric recommends that the best way to prevent copper thieves from targeting your  property is to install security cameras, an alarm system, and install effective lighting on your land.