(The following story by Steven Elbow appeared on the Capital Times website on August 8.)
MADISON, Wisc. — Police say Emil Ledoux has been working on the railroad, but it hasn’t been honest work.
Ledoux, 45, of Madison, is facing theft and criminal damage charges for allegedly stealing 150 feet of rail, then selling it for scrap metal.
He may be charged as soon as today.
Fitchburg Police Lt. Todd Stetzer said missing sections of the railroad along Highway 14 had prompted complaints. Police following up on the complaints Wednesday morning came upon Ledoux cutting 5-foot sections of the track with a gas torch and using a winch to lift the rail onto a U-Haul truck he had rented.
Stetzer said Ledoux admitted cutting about 150 feet of track in all and selling it.
Stetzer said Ledoux was getting $10 a foot for the scrap. Stetzer said he could have gotten four times that if he hauled it to Chicago.
“It’s a lot of work for the little bit of money,” Stetzer said. “You figure the equipment to cut it, the renting of the U-Haul, the winch system, the weight of the stuff, I think that’s why people do more copper than railroad tracks.”
Across the nation and in the Madison area, there have been a rash of air conditioner raids as people cash in on copper wire, which fetches up to $4 a pound.
Stetzer said the section of the track Ledoux allegedly cut was not currently being used, but tentative plans to reopen the stretch for freight and possibly commuter rail are in the works.