You are taught to look both ways before you cross the street. But you might want to look just to walk down the sidewalk. That's because thieves are ripping off the heavy utility metal covers and stripping you of your safety.
Recently John Kay dodged two uncovered utility holes. But he didn't see a third one coming and fell right into a rusty pit and broke his leg. He suspects someone stole the covers to sell as scrap metal.
"Seems like people will steal anything these days for a couple of bucks," said Kay. "They need to find a way to lock them, I guess," he added.
Kay is also puzzled as to why the three missing covers still haven't been replaced in the 2600 block of Wagon Wheel near Nacogdoches and Loop 410.
She's not the only one. A local bar is concerned for his patrons.
SAWS says they are seeing so many thefts that they are trying out new plastic covers to curb the crime. They say there are tens of thousands of the metal covers around the city. If you see one missing, you are asked to call 704-SAWS to report it.
