jonescg
100 MW
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/04/02/3469088.htm?site=sydney&WT.svl=local0
Copper theft on the rise?
- Thread starter jonescg
- Start date
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
We had a lot of that a few years ago in the Atlanta area, mostly foreclosed houses and some churches (pretty much any structure with a crawlspace, because it's easy to get in, and once in the crawlspace nobody can see what you're doing. They cut away all the copper pipes, and then leave.
A bigger problem in Atlanta is sex trafficking. Kids in the inner city getting kidnapped and few people seem to do anything about it because the kids are so poor.
A bigger problem in Atlanta is sex trafficking. Kids in the inner city getting kidnapped and few people seem to do anything about it because the kids are so poor.
dnmun
1 PW
i had a guy steal a big piece out of my scrap metal pile the other day, in broad daylight. 2 in the afternoon, he just pulled his car over to the curb, opened his trunk and walked over to my scrap metal pile at the front corner of my house, picked up a big 150lb piece of 3x6 steel tubing and carried it to his car and put it in the trunk. by the time i got out there he saw me and he had turned and jumped back in the car from a second trip to my house, and i could not catch him. middle of the day, out in the open totally. so brazen i could not believe it.
There was a man here a few years ago that parked his truck in the middle of the intersection with cones around it, broad daylight, at 27th Ave & Northern, next to an elementary school (which often has police nearby). He hooked a big chain around the huge gas main cutoff valve assembly (presumably it's brass under the paint?) that comes out of the ground there, and then wrapped the other end of the chain around his rear axle. He then got in the truck and slammed the accelerator and tried to rip it out of the ground, but instead ripped the rear axle off his truck. 
Cops came right over (probably watching the whole thing) and took him away, as he didn't have time to run off.
When I worked at Arrowhead mall around the same time (2006/7), they had welded big grating-steel and angle-iron boxes around all the valves and manhole covers, etc. all around the mall's parking lots and green areas, so that people would be less able to steal the valve assemblies, which were typically brass or copper. Apparently many times people would park next to them and just get out fo the truck or car, take an angle grinder and cut off the valve, water spraying everywhere, and drive off. I dunno if it's true but there was also a story of a man killed trying to steal the gas cutoff valve that way: they said he began cutting and it exploded in flames, engulfing him and his car instantly, as well as several other nearby parked, empty vehicles. I suspect that's an exaggeration at best, and more likely a completely made-up tale.
Several schools in the area that used to have window-mounted AC units had them stolen during various break weeks, in broad daylight.
At least one house in my neighborhood had their piping and wiring ripped out while they were on vacation. They had at least several thousand dollars (at pawn shop value!) of stuff that could have been stolen, including lots of jewelry and electronics, DVDs, games, etc., and a whole lot of expensive tools in the garage. But the thieves did not even touch any of htis, and instead destroyed the home by hacking thru walls to get the pipes and wires out. The only real saving grace was that the theives were smart enough to turn off the gas and water main valves outside before doing it, so the physical damage was less severe than otherwise, with no water or fire damage, but it still cost them something liike 50 thousand dollars to fix it. Another house had their AC unit ripped out of the window while they were home and in the room! The thieves tossed it in a truck and drove off. Dunno if they were ever caught.
Last year, the building where I work had copper thieves on the roof while I was there, trying to rip out AC unit coils and stuff, and the entire building was surrounded by police for a couple of hours while they dealt with the situation before they got them off the roof and took them away.
The year before that someone did the same thing but didn't get caught, and destroyed several tens of thousands of dollars worth of AC units across the complex. This caused Anna's Linens to move out of the complex because the landlord refused to pay for any of the repairs. For many months Dollar Tree had a rental evap cooler in the middle of the store floor with air hoses all over the place for cooling, becuse they couldn't afford to fix the actual AC. Our rear units are still not functional, so the back of the store with dog/cat food and the warehouse (and breakroom and bathrooms) has no heating or cooling. The front ones were mostly still not destroyed yet when the thieves left, and they were fixed within a few months, though they still don't work like they are supposed to.
I've had at least two separate attempts to steal stuff from my yard. Once, back around 2001/2 when I still had Lady, the big white wolf/pyrenees, some hispanic dude had hopped the fence without checking for dogs or people, and she took off after him. Never seen anybody run so fast before. :lol: He almost cleared the eye-level fence, but snagged his shirt and some skin on the top, and bent the top pole down (you can still see the bend in oen of the recent pics of my dogs over in my CrazyBike2 thread). Cops wouldn't even take a report.
Just recently, couple months ago, someone moved the blue recycle bin next to my fence and used it to climb over, at the carport. I think they also attempted to remove my main window AC unit but it is securely mounted and the walls are brick, so they gave up before damaging anything, but it has paint scratches that didn't exist before. I didn't see them in the yard, but footprints in the crushed short weeds right there show them in the yard, and I heard barking different from usual, so I assume the dogs chased them out of the yard. Nothing I know of is missing. I moved the bin inside the yard after that--they'll have to bring their own ladder next time.
I could go on for quite a while....
Cops came right over (probably watching the whole thing) and took him away, as he didn't have time to run off.
When I worked at Arrowhead mall around the same time (2006/7), they had welded big grating-steel and angle-iron boxes around all the valves and manhole covers, etc. all around the mall's parking lots and green areas, so that people would be less able to steal the valve assemblies, which were typically brass or copper. Apparently many times people would park next to them and just get out fo the truck or car, take an angle grinder and cut off the valve, water spraying everywhere, and drive off. I dunno if it's true but there was also a story of a man killed trying to steal the gas cutoff valve that way: they said he began cutting and it exploded in flames, engulfing him and his car instantly, as well as several other nearby parked, empty vehicles. I suspect that's an exaggeration at best, and more likely a completely made-up tale.
Several schools in the area that used to have window-mounted AC units had them stolen during various break weeks, in broad daylight.
At least one house in my neighborhood had their piping and wiring ripped out while they were on vacation. They had at least several thousand dollars (at pawn shop value!) of stuff that could have been stolen, including lots of jewelry and electronics, DVDs, games, etc., and a whole lot of expensive tools in the garage. But the thieves did not even touch any of htis, and instead destroyed the home by hacking thru walls to get the pipes and wires out. The only real saving grace was that the theives were smart enough to turn off the gas and water main valves outside before doing it, so the physical damage was less severe than otherwise, with no water or fire damage, but it still cost them something liike 50 thousand dollars to fix it. Another house had their AC unit ripped out of the window while they were home and in the room! The thieves tossed it in a truck and drove off. Dunno if they were ever caught.
Last year, the building where I work had copper thieves on the roof while I was there, trying to rip out AC unit coils and stuff, and the entire building was surrounded by police for a couple of hours while they dealt with the situation before they got them off the roof and took them away.
The year before that someone did the same thing but didn't get caught, and destroyed several tens of thousands of dollars worth of AC units across the complex. This caused Anna's Linens to move out of the complex because the landlord refused to pay for any of the repairs. For many months Dollar Tree had a rental evap cooler in the middle of the store floor with air hoses all over the place for cooling, becuse they couldn't afford to fix the actual AC. Our rear units are still not functional, so the back of the store with dog/cat food and the warehouse (and breakroom and bathrooms) has no heating or cooling. The front ones were mostly still not destroyed yet when the thieves left, and they were fixed within a few months, though they still don't work like they are supposed to.
I've had at least two separate attempts to steal stuff from my yard. Once, back around 2001/2 when I still had Lady, the big white wolf/pyrenees, some hispanic dude had hopped the fence without checking for dogs or people, and she took off after him. Never seen anybody run so fast before. :lol: He almost cleared the eye-level fence, but snagged his shirt and some skin on the top, and bent the top pole down (you can still see the bend in oen of the recent pics of my dogs over in my CrazyBike2 thread). Cops wouldn't even take a report.
Just recently, couple months ago, someone moved the blue recycle bin next to my fence and used it to climb over, at the carport. I think they also attempted to remove my main window AC unit but it is securely mounted and the walls are brick, so they gave up before damaging anything, but it has paint scratches that didn't exist before. I didn't see them in the yard, but footprints in the crushed short weeds right there show them in the yard, and I heard barking different from usual, so I assume the dogs chased them out of the yard. Nothing I know of is missing. I moved the bin inside the yard after that--they'll have to bring their own ladder next time. I could go on for quite a while....
Hillhater
100 TW
follow up to jonescg's OP...
The $50 worth of copper the jerk stole from a refrigeration unit resulted in the loss of $500,000 worth of frozen/fresh goods !
Personally, i am in favor of chopping off thieves hands !
..and rapists tackle ! :wink:
The $50 worth of copper the jerk stole from a refrigeration unit resulted in the loss of $500,000 worth of frozen/fresh goods !
Personally, i am in favor of chopping off thieves hands !
..and rapists tackle ! :wink:
