Nine people have been accused of stealing about 15,000 pounds of copper wire from a Lumberton business owner. Seven of them have already been arrested and charged. (View source article for more)
Source: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/community-news/hcn/local/72076062.html

Source: http://www.bgky.org/crimestoppers/cotwdetail.php?id=210

ALBANY, GA (WALB) –  Thieves hit two East Albany churches Thursday night.  They destroyed expensive air conditioners for a few dollars worth of metal.

A Pastor says crime in his community is frightening and is asking people there to turn in these thieves.

Six air conditioners in all were stripped Friday night at two East Albany churches. And it will cost the churches thousands of dollars to repair the damage.

The Pastor at one of East Albany’s largest churches says it’s time for the community stop the crime there.

Even with six feet tall fences, surrounded by boards, and huge chains and locks, metal thieves still stripped five air conditioners behind the Greater Second Mt. Olive Church last night.

“I think even for a criminal, a church should be off limits,” Reverend Lorenzo Heard said.

Just a couple of blocks away, the air conditioner behind the Grace Emmanuel Church was also stripped. Investigators say these recent East Albany air conditioner thefts are probably being done by the same thieves. they take the coils, and seem to be very skilled. They never even cut the power to the units.

“They left all of the copper parts and took just the aluminum. Because with the copper you have to show your ID, but you don’t have to show ID with the aluminum,”  Heard said.

Greater Second Mt. Olive’s rental property, St. John’s Estates, was hit by the metal thieves Monday night. They stripped five air conditioning units there. It could cost the church almost $20,000 to replace all ten units.

It will cost Grace Emmanuel four thousand dollars to replace their unit, at a time they are struggling to help their neighbors.  “You hate to see somebody vandalize a church, cost a church more. Our giving is down, and with it being the Lord’s House. And with the church’s still being very committed to helping the downtrodden,”  Heard said.

So Reverend Heard is calling on people in the community to step up and give information to stop these thefts and other crime rampant in East Albany.

“I believe in mercy and I believe in grace. But I believe we have got to set a standard. Otherwise Albany is going to be extremely unsafe. And good people are going to find a way to get out.”

Reverend Heard says his church knows they have to protect all the people who step into their House of the Lord, so they will step up security around the Church 24 hours a day.

   It comes down to two simple factors really. The need for money and the relative ease in which your air conditioner can be stolen. Whether it’s someone looking for drug money or an otherwise honest person looking for ways to keep the rent paid, the desire for quick cash will always be the main motivation for copper theft.  While getting a snack during a commercial, your comfort and thousands of dollars could simply disappear. How often do you think about your outside condenser? I bet you rarely even notice it unless your going around it while cutting the grass. Point is, these criminals can throw you’re A/C unit in a truck and be gone long before you even notice it is missing. Most likely, it will be the fact that the inside temperature is changing that prompts you to investigate rather than the absence of your unit.

   Air conditioning systems are one of the most expensive purchases you will make for your home. They can range from $3500 to over $10,000 depending on size and efficiency. Keeping your investments safe has now become a top priority. Even as law enforcement create task forces and scrap yards tighten regulations, legitimate middle men also get involved because of the easy cash. No matter the obstacles, there will always be a market for the valuable copper in you’re A/C unit. Robert Michell of Property Armor says “If your not protected, you’re a target.” He explains how the security products from Property Armor have seen a tremendous increase in sales over the past few years. “Our Air Conditioner Cages had to be isolated from our mainline HVAC products due to the demand. We sold A/C cages for years, but were mainly for damage and debris. They were to help protect apartment complex A/C units from damage as they were used for second base for the kids” 

    Things are different in tough times. The focus now is to protect your Air Conditioner from getting in the hands of a crook who will strip the untraceable copper from it and sell it for pennies on the dollar. These thieves do not discriminate. They do not pick one neighborhood over another because of aesthetics, it is all about speed. Your nice home with two A/C units, in a subdivision where it is likely unoccupied due to the need for two incomes is far more attractive than a rough area where neighbors are out talking over fences and looking for employment. Michell says “Businesses and Churches have been especially hit hard because they are predictably unoccupied. Imagine a commercial building, a lot of large A/C units, and a good chance nobody will be back until Monday morning. This is enough to make any copper crook drool, and it is exactly what they are looking for. Protect your unit with a cage and make the thief go elsewhere. Again, this game is all about speed. An Air Conditioner Cage takes this important factor away from the enemy”.

    The solution is simple. Be Pro-Active and protect your unit. There are several designs to choose from but keep in mind the objective, you are not simply trying to decorate your unit, you are protecting it. When considering an Air Conditioner Cage, Property Armor suggests that you do your homework. “Look closely at the pictures and ask questions. We compete against cages that have only three sides, no top, spray paint, etc. We have seen an increase in the people who are starting businesses that make Air Conditioner Cages.” says Michell “They are not to complicated if you have the equipment, the difference is in the quality and the details. We recommend that you check out the company before you purchase. Keep in mind, a $500 website can make you look as big and established as you wish , which can often be misleading. We actually won one bid because the other “Company” did not want to issue a receipt because he did not want his boss to know he was doing work on the side out of his garage”. As with any purchase for your home, it’s best to keep your guard up…no pun intended.

    To learn more about the problem of copper theft, the solutions available to combat this epidemic, or to simply browse through other articles and pictures, visit www.propertyarmor.net

   The stealing of valuable metal and selling it for pennies on the dollar has become an epidemic, Vancouver police said. This time the crooks hit air conditioning units, ripping them apart and cutting out the copper. 

   Victims said the crooks get a few bucks while they get stuck with thousands in damages. “They leave the parts that don’t make ’em any money. The rest of it just disappears,” Arlene Haney from Premier Investment Co. said. Haney said she’s frustrated because someone destroyed six of her company’s air conditioners, which will cost $3,500 each to replace. “I don’t understand why they just don’t get a job. It’s very costly for us and they just don’t care,” Haney said. 

   Last week Haney came to work and found one of her air conditioners dismantled with its copper tubing removed. Every night for the next two days thieves returned, stealing the other five units. Haney said she doesn’t know how to stop the thefts, other than putting up brighter lights, cutting back landscaping and installing cameras. “It’s a little scary. You don’t really think people will be that brazen, and they seem to hit everybody in the neighborhood, it seems like,” Haney said. 

   The crooks struck two other nearby establishments as well, destroying heating and air conditioning units there, too. The thieves hit a church, tearing apart a large air conditioning unit along with two small ones. A heat pump from another business was also destroyed. “We’ll have to dig deep to find the money to fix this. Insurance will pay for part of it but not 100 percent,” said Jim Kersteter of the First Evangelical Church. 

   In Washington, if you sell metal to a scrap yard there’s a 10-day waiting period before a check is mailed to you. In Oregon, scrap yards can hand recyclers cash as soon as they bring metal in. Police said Oregon needs to pass similar laws to Washington’s to discourage the thieves.

   This posted in Vancouver, Washington. Similar stories are all across the nation. Fortunately, there are solutions. Property Armor can be purchased for your Air Conditioner and you can have piece of mind for as little as 250 bucks. Visit www.propertyarmor.net

With copper prices soaring, so is copper theft , creating power outages, communication breakdowns and other issues beyond the immediate thievery.

The problem has gotten so bad — some people think the economic slowdown contributes to the crime — that legislators are likely to increase penalties for copper theft that damages or interrupts utilities or communication services.

A bill moving quickly through the House and Senate would make such theft a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Copper theft has hit areas ranging from construction sites to citrus groves to homes, according to media reports from around the state, with the thieves usually taking the material to a recycler or scrap metal dealer, where it often sells for $3.20 a pound.

“Copper is one of the most expensive alloys n the construction business,” said Rep. Trudi Wiliams, R-south Lee County, and an engineer. “Utilities, especially, use it a lot because it’s got such great conductivity. But when it gets stolen, it can mean a lot of people lose their electrical power.”

Williams signed on as an early sponsor “because it’s a good anti-theft bill,” she said. “The way people are stealing copper has turned into a real epidemic. Anything we can do to increase penalties against construction theft is a good thing.”

Another sponsor, Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, cited the crime element as a major reason for his support.

Because of the increased demand for metals, more people are becoming victims, Nelson said.

“We now find ourselves in a situation where business and homeowners are having to spend thousands to replace air conditioners and other items that have been destroyed for a few hundred dollars worth of copper,” he said, adding that a crackdown in the law is certainly worthwhile.

No opposition has appeared in any committee hearings; the bill (HB 799) sped through three House committees unanimously and is now poised for a final vote on the floor.

The Senate measure (SB 1384) also passed two committees unanimously, and is scheduled to be heard by two more in that chamber.

Source: http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/crime/story.aspx?storyid=77056