It's the Chicago way...
 

"A City Of Chicago worker stands accused of stealing 500 feet of copper wire
from Midway Airport...[The suspect] allegedly had taken the wire, valued at
nearly $700, and sold it at a scrap yard."

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/...irport-runway/

$1.40 per foot?

Wholesale for 10AWG is about fifty cents a foot.
http://www.southwire.com/documents/p...Cu_BW_427C.pdf

Must be more of the Chicago Way.