$1.3 Million in Stolen Copper Wire From Alabama and Data Center Equipment From Florida Recovered From Two Stolen Trailers at Illinois Truck Yard — Stolen Plates Also Found
ELK GROVE TOWNSHIP, ILLINOIS — Cook County Sheriff's Office investigators recovered more than $1.3 million in stolen goods from two stolen semi-trailers found at a truck yard in unincorporated Elk Grove Township, including $300,000 in copper wire and $1 million worth of data center infrastructure equipment — with stolen license plates on one trailer and a trail leading back to thefts in Alabama and Florida.
On June 18, 2026, CCSO's Sheriff's Police Organized Retail Crime Unit received information that a trailer reported stolen in Pine Hill, Alabama, had been tracked to a truck yard in the 2500 block of East Higgins Road. Deputies arrived and located the trailer, which was loaded with approximately $300,000 in copper wire. The trailer also bore Indiana license plates that had been reported stolen in Wisconsin.
The truck yard owner told investigators the same person who dropped off the copper wire trailer had also dropped off a second trailer the week before. Deputies contacted the owner of the second trailer, who confirmed it had been stolen out of Jacksonville, Florida, on June 10. That trailer contained approximately $1 million in infrastructure equipment for data centers.
CCSO continues to investigate the cargo thefts and is working to identify the driver who dropped off both trailers and anyone else who may have been involved.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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