Copper thieves strike again in Jefferson Parish.

The Destrehan Avenue extension in Harvey connects the West Bank Woodmere Subdivision to Lafitte-Larose Highway. The street lights along this new two-mile stretch of highway don't work.

"They have stolen the underground copper wiring," said Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts. "Essentially, that renders the lights here useless because they have no way to get power."

According to Roberts, thieves broke open the underground conduit that connects the lights and removed about 30,000 feet of wire.

He says is will take more than $60,000 to replace and reinstall the copper cable.

"When you're talking about pulling wires up from under ground and disconnecting an electrical circuit that's been energized then you got to believe that you're dealing with a professionals that know what they're doing," said Roberts.

The thefts happened about a half-mile from Parc des Familles.

Thieves got away with about $150,000 worth of copper wire from the park now under construction near Crown Point.

Roberts says the two cases could be connected.

"Both cases we had power poles that were energized, that it appears power was shut off to in order for them to be able to remove the underground cable," said Roberts.

Entergy Louisiana spokesman Philip Allison says anyone digging up copper cable runs the risk of getting electrocuted.

"You have any sort of electrical equipment, you have to assume there's electrical current running through it," said Allison. "You're talking about thousands of volts which can be very, very dangerous."

Without the streetlights, the stretch of Destrehan Avenue is pitch black at night.

Parish leaders say there's been an increase in illegal dumping and littering in the area in recent weeks.

"It's our intention to get the lights back up and operating as soon as we can," said Roberts. "They were here for a reason and that's to keep the roads safe and when they're not operating, there are things that go on that we don't want to see happen."

There has been one arrest in the case so far.

Investigators say Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents on night patrol in the area, caught 31-year-old Gary Josey of Lafitte removing copper.

They say Josey was dressed in camouflage to help hide himself.

Jefferson Parish leaders hope to have the copper replaced and the lights back on along Destrehan Avenue by the end of next month.