The police originally entered the residence to investigate Chen's brother on suspected drug charges. The police began processing Chen on suspected theft charges yesterday.

Chen admitted that he stole the wires because he lacked money. He sold the wires, valued at over NT$10,000, for a fraction of the price to a recycling center.

The Criminal Investigation Bureau approached the Taiwan Power Company earlier, and learned that hundreds of meters of wires had been stolen in Taoyuan County, causing two townships to lose power for a period of time. Another factory also had hundreds of meters of its wires cut and stolen.