He’s trading copper for the clink — again.
A career scrap metal thief who was banned from the Big Apple’s subway system for repeatedly stealing copper wiring from underground tunnels is back to his old ways.
Prince Hayes, 62, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stripping wire cable from outside a Scrap King in Brooklyn around 1:30 p.m., cops said.
“He’s like a legend and still doing it,” a law enforcement source said of the sexagenarian with 60 prior arrests.
“They caught him with a whole bunch of copper wire. Hopefully, the Brooklyn [District Attorney] will look for something more than a ban this time.”
And despite his subway ban, instituted in 2013 as part of a parole deal, police also caught Hayes with copper wiring he allegedly stripped from Brooklyn’s Hoyt-Schermerhorn station.
Hayes was charged with criminal possession of stolen property, criminal mischief, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of a controlled substance — as he was also allegedly carrying a straw containing heroin during his latest arrest.
During Hayes’ heyday, he was well known for using pliers and a hacksaw while cutting thick copper cables in subway tunnels, leading to dozens of train delays and costly repairs, The Post reported in 2018.
He even cut wires while trains rumbled through the tunnels at top speeds.
If the wrong section of a cable is cut, it can cause death or electrocution — but the dangers never appeared to phase the copper crook.
Hayes’ extensive rap sheet dates back to 1980, with the MTA setting their sights on him decades ago.
In 2016, he was sentenced to two years in jail after stealing copper and endangering straphangers, officials told The Post at the time.
Three years earlier, he was banned for life from the subway as a condition of his prison release after he was caught stealing copper from another Brooklyn subway station.
His last arrest was in 2019 for stealing copper wiring from the same Brooklyn scrap yard he was caught at on Wednesday, police said.
Copper wire, known as “mongo” on the street, is a commodity pilfered from job sites and train stations, a police source said Wednesday.
“It’s very expensive. It’s a commonly sought item on construction sites.”
Hayes was awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Wednesday night.
