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Copper Thieves

J

john in la

Well-known Member
Location
What part of in La do you not understand


Heard on the local radio today the police are warning homeowners to watch for copper thieves stealing gutters off houses while people are at work.

Seems they watch your house to find your patterns and then show up when you are at work. Break out the ladders and go about removing the copper gutters from the house in plain sight. The neighbors think nothing of it because they just think you are having your gutters worked on. One witness said it looked like a normal construction crew working on a house.

How does someone get up enough nerve to do this type of stuff in broad daylight??????
 
There was a thing on the local news a few weeks ago.. One town has a copper loop, on the poles that is a direct fire alarm circuit. By loop, it means there are 2 ways that the signal goes to the fire depts. These wires started disappearing, and the only way to get up to the top of the poles is via a bucket truck.

The metal thefts here are awful. All the local shops are getting ripped off on a daily basis.
 
I think a lot of these thefts of copper and equipment are the work of construction guys who are out of work. They have the tools and knowledge. Early this year a large excavator was stolen from a highway project near here. This involved a semi, lowboy trailer, the proper signs and a escort vehicle. And most importantly, the skills to do it. A few people noticed a couple guys loading up the machine, but didn't think anything of it. The state police said it was a very professional operation.
 
I helped tear a old barn down the other day and I got some of the copper . I took it in and it came to $120 and I had to fillout a form to send into the police , truck discription , plate no. , my numbers , etc. He said it`s for all copper over $100 .
 
It's not just copper. Had a guy near here lose over $3000 worth of 20 foot aluminum irrigation pipe. They left the 30 foot sections. They found it at a recycler, but it had already been cut up. They did have a plate number for the truck so should be able to track them down. Fortunately, the guy had insuranxce to cover it.
 
having worked in computers for a long time I realized if you just look like you know what you are doing and that you belong there nobody will question you. I've picked up computers and printers at places where nobody knew me and walked right out the door. People expect crooks to act shadey but they don't all act that way. A certain degree of confidence will let you get away with a lot.

Just a side note: I never stole any computers or equipment, I just realized how easy it would acually be if I wanted to.
 
My son and I are buying 50 acres that adjoins us. Has an old house site, abandoned and falling in. There is several hundred feet of overhead copper wire I am going to salvage.

There is also about a quarter mile of underground Minuteman missle cable that we are going to jerk out of the ground. Ought to add, it is abandoned cable. It's about 2" diameter.

Help make first farm payment


Gene
 
If this happened more often, it might discourage SOME of the low-lifes:
-----------------
June 4,2008
VIENNA, Maine -- The owner of a machine shop where thieves stole $3,000 worth of scrap steel, iron and aluminum wasn't going to let it happen again. After Saturday night's theft, Joseph Lord loaded his shotgun and laid low, expecting the thieves to return. They came back on Tuesday, in broad daylight.

When Lord saw their 2008 F-250 pickup truck, he shot out its tires and windshield and blasted its radiator, Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty said.

The startled thieves took off on foot, but investigators quickly tracked down the truck's operator, who will be charged with theft, Liberty said. Charges are pending against an accomplice, the sheriff said.

Liberty said he discourages the use of guns to protect property. In this case, Lord told investigators he wanted to disable the vehicle so the criminals couldn't escape.
 
Copper thefts have gotten so bad in Dallas, they passed a city ordinance requiring a plumber's or electrician's license to sell scrap copper. Thieves don't care where they get it. My church had both its a/c units stolen.

At the farm, we've had folks stop and offer to haul off any scrap metal, etc. We know better and take our scrap to the yard and sell it ourselves.

Gives me chills to think of any of our good old tractors being stolen and cut up for scrap.
 
I helped write and install pc programs and equipment and later answered trouble calls. Many times the callers would say someone came in and took PC's or did something and they had no idea who it was......Finally got them to start asking for ID's.
 
Some teenagers stole the copper wire off a communication tower at a Saginaw cty airport (Mich). $30 worth of copper according to police.

Now they are facing federal charges with the FAA involved since it happened at an airport.

Real dumb move for $30 of copper.

Rick
 
Must have been a nice neighborhood if the gutters were copper.I bought a battery sawzall yesterday and was thinking these things really wreak havoc in the hands of theives.[Like cat converter theft or carbide blade on a lock]I just want to cut rebar but if Im not going to get robbed Ill gladly go get an extension cord.Outlaw portable power tools!
 
Here are some thieves working big time, but some got the copper and one got fried. His family will probably want to sue the company that owned these copper cables. Hal
vspf9t.jpg
 
Know of a fella here who has lots of collector cars, in a pole barn-with tall wood fence around it-but he does not live there. Some low lifers got past the fence and took all the copper radiators they could get. Then they came back and broke into the building and did the same thing. Now remember, these are collector cars and you can not just go to O'Reillys and buy another! Greg
 
Our area is very rural but there is a clinic that has operated off and on over the years, mainly for low income people. Its AC unit was stolen a couple of weeks ago. If you go into town (Elizabethtown, NC) and watch the trucks headed to a scrap yard about 30 miles away you wonder why people aren't getting killed with the death trap trailers they are dragging down the road loaded with junk.
 
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