Do you have copper thieves in your neck of the woods?

Our "hunting camp" in the Adirondacks was stripped of all its metal, not just copper. All the pots, pans, wiring, pipes, silverware etc. Happened Mon-Fri while honest hard working folks were... well, working and not in the woods.

There have been newsreports in WV and eastern KY of people going into old abandoned mines that have been shut down for decades looking for copper. Yes the ones who are not exactly the brightest have needed rescuing or a funeral.

We just got home from having dinner with some friends from out of the area. We were talking about playing tennis at night. They said that in their city (much more heavily populated than our area), they were having trouble at the schools with people stealing the copper wiring from the light boxes at the tennis courts.

I think it is a nationwide problem. Methheads and unscrupulous scrap metal dealers hook up. Houses abandoned during the foreclosure meltdown are particularly susceptible.

There is a problem up in the PNW with it and after talking with my dad a while back there is a problem in Florida as well.

This has been a problem for a long time. Back in the 80's my job would take me into abandon buildings where asbestos pipe insulation was removed laying under where the copper pipe used to be.

Many construction sites in rough neighborhoods have 24 security guards for this reason. Again, this has been going on for a while. Copper has always been valuable.

We've got em here too. A few years ago a brand new school was getting ready to open, the last weekend before school started the thieves came in with their vans and stuff and cleaned out the copper ... crazy stuff.

It's a growing problem here in Texas. The city yard where I work was hit twice in one week. Cleaned out copper metal bin and broke into traffic dept shop and stole 12 contractor generators.

They got caught selling the copper after having to display their lisc. to the recyclers and being video taped. Their problem is they tried to sell it in the same city, pure dumbness.

I'm sure some of you have heard of catalytic converters being stolen from your cars right in the parking lots! Auto dealers are also being hit hard as well.

Check this article out! Unbelievable

Platinum in these things?

They're everywhere! They're everywhere!

We've had copper thieves in the Southern Plains for decades. Back in the 70's, the rural thieves would cut down the old power lines on farm property, usually around secluded abandoned farm houses & out buildings. To get some money for it, they'd set a big hoop of copper wire on fire with gasoline & get the insulation crispy, then drag it down a shale road to clean the copper. Not much of a payday back then. Problem was, as land owners, one had to cut it down off your secluded property, or the occasional thief would steal it. We had several huge hoops of power line in our barn, till we used part of it & sold off the rest.

While copper theft began way before METH, brazen thieves often hooked on meth or other substances have basically swept through many rural areas for the last 2 decades. In my business, I've dealt with many customers that live in older homes in the country. In some parts these folk will do everything they can to be home around ice storms & if bad thunderstorms are about to hit. There have been many instances, the power is out, & folks are stranded in town for days, & thieves are out running the country roads, notice no one is home, cut the lines to folks older homes & barns, & stolen the copper power lines & whatever else they could quickly grab. Often the deputy sheriffs have their hands full, & if caught, the thieves get out on bond & are back out thieving while awaiting trial. 6 years ago, I obtained a CC permit. Not many places I don't go that I'm not carrying. Personally have been attacked with a crowbar, & had a pickup throw gravel all over me as I chased a pair of thieves off our ranch property. There is only one solution & it sure isn't giving the b#stards another monthly ck & free health care.

It's not just rural areas. I live in a suburb of Canton, OH, but work for the Canton City School district. The poverty rate in our district is 84% That means 84% of our students are living below the poverty line. Canton has the policy of siezing homes where drug transactions have taken place. These homes are eventually torn down, but until they are, they stand empty and boarded up, inviting copper thieves. Stupid ones don't even bother to turn off the water before ripping out the copper pipes, flooding the property. Aluminum siding is ripped off of homes and businesses as far up as anyone can reach. Recently, two of our schools were in lockdown while law enforcement officials conducted drug sweeps of the neighborhoods. Makes me thankful for my healthy family, and the jobs that my husband and I both have.

agree with you OH BBmom, there are rough areas of OKC that I've been in looking for a business, & I've run across thieves loading the back of their early 90's beater cars with copper. there are easily a half dozen different local concerns fabricating cage like steel enclosures to protect a/c compressors. Keeps a lot of heat & a/c contractors busy. A/C copper thefts are in the news all the time where an office complex was hit on a weekend & all the a/c units were stripped. Even worse is when the copper thieves hit churches at night. I'm all for bringing back frontier justice & hanging thieves at sun-up or high noon, or all morning long, whatever it takes!

What country is it that cuts off a finger or hand if you're caught stealing?

If we had THAT kind of instant justice, I guarantee that some of this thievery would decrease. I didn't say go away. But it wouldn't take long for us to know who the thieves are, would it?

Don't get me started!

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Even worse is when the copper thieves hit churches at night.

I work at a very large church which is/was in the process of updating the copper gutters and downspouts with copper-look-alike aluminum. The admin. of the church got quotes for the replcements as well as the price for selling the copper. Stupid thieves got to the copper before the process could be completed. They took the copper "look a-likes" downspouts too.

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Originally posted by keewart:

quote:

Even worse is when the copper thieves hit churches at night.

I work at a very large church which is/was in the process of updating the copper gutters and downspouts with copper-look-alike aluminum. The admin. of the church got quotes for the replcements as well as the price for selling the copper. Stupid thieves got to the copper before the process could be completed. They took the copper "look a-likes" downspouts too.

This just happened to a local church smack dab in the middle of town, on Christmas! I have no idea how they pulled it off.

I worked with a guy who lived in Phila. As far as 'hoods go, his wasn't that bad, but he wanted to get out. He eventually bought a house in the suburbs, but remained in his old home until somebody bought it and moved in.

"If I left it vacant, the house would be stripped out the first night."

We have many cases where the police have caught thieves on the roofs of strip centers tearing apart AC systems for the copper . Times are hard I guess , what happened to the old days where they just robbed banks . LOL !

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Originally posted by Tom Dorminy:
We have many cases where the police have caught thieves on the roofs of strip centers tearing apart AC systems for the copper . Times are hard I guess , what happened to the old days where they just robbed banks . LOL !

I think the robbers who robbed banks were looking for the big pay day while the crooks today stealing copper are looking for a couple bucks to help them get their next hit of meth.

Don't worry about the poor thief's relatives, I'm sure a lawyer is working for them on a wrongful death suit.