A serial subway copper thief with a lengthy arrest record was busted Wednesday for trying to sell transit cables he allegedly swiped from the subway system In Brooklyn.
Prince Hayes, 63, was caught cutting and stripping a piece of copper cable from a subway track, cops said — and was tracked down Wednesday after authorities noticed a pattern of stolen copper cables.
Cops caught up with Hayes on 19th St. in Gowanus near Scrap King, where Hayes aimed to sell the stolen cable, police sources said.
Hayes, who was said to have over 60 arrests dating back to the 1980s, was charged with criminal possession of stolen property. It was unclear what station the cables came from.
His arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court was pending Wednesday night.
Hayes has been on the NYPD’s radar since 2021, when he was busted near the same scrapyard trying to sell 31 pounds of copper allegedly stolen from the subway system.
“I didn’t do anything,” Hayes said at the time as he was led out from the NYPD’s Transit District 30 headquarters in downtown Brooklyn. When asked where he steals the cables from, he curtly replied, “None of your business.”
Hayes was also busted in 2019 in attempts to sell 15 feet of stolen copper, which was slung over his shoulder on his way to the same scrap yard.
“This is what he does,” a police source said after the 2019 incident. “He steals copper.”
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