Don't steel my coppper!

[charlie3238]

Copper theft and meth are both out of control all over the place. In C.A. they used to steal the live copper lines going to the bill boards on the side of the FWY. I remember reading an article where two guys where trying to steal the copper out of one of those big green transformer boxes at a golf course. A neighbor living nearby called the police reporting what looked like "fireworks" coming from that area. When the cops arrived they found two guys burnt to a crisp inside this box. I bet it did look like the 4th of July.

 

[Mosh]

Mosh,

I thought you said they almost got $200 for your copper but cost you $8k. Not arguing they are stupid but I'm missing some part of the story. Did they damage your equipment but still not get the copper they were after?

The copper is worth about $200 when they take it to the scrap yard. It is going to cost me around $8K to have my machine completely re-wired. The copper wire is all ripped out and laying on the ground. cut up in peices.

 

[briankb]

The copper is worth about $200 when they take it to the scrap yard. It is going to cost me around $8K to have my machine completely re-wired. The copper wire is all ripped out and laying on the ground. cut up in peices.

ah... you should post the video on youtube and send it to break.com maybe you could make some of the money back.

 

[JESSE WALKER]

On my Farm I have three center pivots (900 ft long sprinklers in my field) they have 220 electric wire running down them to run the motors to move them. Well Meth-heads have been going around stripping the wire for scrap copper, so I put axle grease all over my towers to keep people off.
Well last night two morons tried to steal wire off mine. One slipped off the tower and messed himself up pretty bad. His buddy tossed him in the back of his truck,drove to the hospital and pulled up to the ER and just pushed him out. This was all on security tape at the hospital so they caught the guy (his buddy is messed up still in intensive care). The guy that fell is a guy I went to school with. That sucks. Well they would have got $200 for scrap copper, now I have $8,000 of new wiring to replace. METH!!! Great for America!

BTW they are lucky I was sober, or this might be a very different story.....

around here that story would have ended like this
"Well they would have got $200 for scrap copper, now I have $8,000 of new wiring to replace,and $80,000 dollar law suit bc the guy who ripped me off got hurt on my property and is now suing me. METH!!! Great for America!"


theives just need to die

 

[Deaton Design]

We got that kind of stuff going on here too. Only meth aint the big thing here, its oxycontins. And with all the mining companies here, its a constant fight to keep thieves from stealing copper. Just last year, some fool climbed a telephone pole to steal some copper, and lost his life. Got electrocuted. These people will do anything to get their fix on.
Do what you have to do to protect whats yours.

 

[signage]

Around my area a large building up for sale for a couple of years has had the copper from inside stolen recently! I think this is happening every where and is only going to be getting worse with the economy not rebounding quickly!

 

[signmeup]

They do it up here too. They like the lines from the oil tank to the house. The oil leakes into the ground and you get the enviro cleanup bill for 10 grand. Make it so you require a permit and ID to buy and sell used copper....problem solved.

 

[d fleming]

Dobermans...keeping jerks off my property since 1979.

 

[knucklehead]

I've heard Dallas has the STUPIDEST copper wire thieves, well minus a couple.

 

[charlie3238]

They do it up here too. They like the lines from the oil tank to the house. The oil leakes into the ground and you get the enviro cleanup bill for 10 grand. Make it so you require a permit and ID to buy and sell used copper....problem solved.

In C.A. if you show up with a pile of copper to try and sell it you`ve gotta show them a drivers lic. or they won`t buy it from you. Some places even take your picture. Now they've starting cutting off the catalytic converters on cars, Not sure if they have copper or platinum in them but that`s a $500 fix if it happens to you.

 

[Pro Image]

I remember reading or seeing a story of a OK farmer that was having his liquid ammonia stolen......They would use 30lb tank to siphon off his larger tank......well he took the o-rings out of the tank and put up a video camera.......That night a guy comes up and screws the tank on and the ammonia burns the hell out of his face and chest......I think he lost most of the left side of his face and also his eyes........He sued the farmer....I don't know what come of it but sound like the same situation.......Hope they don't do the same Mosh.......

 

[briankb]

I could swear there is a law that prevents lawsuits when you are involved in a criminal act. I know people have been sued in recent times but do people really win or get settlements?

This guy could have simply stated he removed the o-rings so he could find and buy replacements. But I'm guessing he was bragging about what happened or made it known. Your best defense is silence in situations like this one.

 

[signmeup]

I think that smart people could figure out a way to regulate the buying and selling of copper scrap. Is it really a challenging problem to solve? I suppose if it happens to enough politicians it'll get fixed pronto.

 

[J Hill Designs]

well, it happened with empty kegs here in california (or at least my county) - you get more money in scrap stainless steel than you get for your deposit - ppl were stealing them from beer distro's etc - now you need to be a verified and licensed metal scrapper to scrap empty kegs

 

[gnemmas]

Here is the new law enacted in 2008 in CA.

We have a old boxtruck for advertising purpose parked in our lot, had two holes drilled in the gas tank. I have not fix it yet.

 

[signmeup]

well, it happened with empty kegs here in california (or at least my county) - you get more money in scrap stainless steel than you get for your deposit - ppl were stealing them from beer distro's etc - now you need to be a verified and licensed metal scrapper to scrap empty kegs

Or they could have raised the deposit.

 

[Headhunterx]

During the summer I had 2 new houses under construction they were side by side and were 2300 sq ft each and thieves went up through the garage pull down stair way and got all the wire out of the attic in both of them they cut it so close that both houses had to be rewired ($6K Each) both houses had the sheetrock installed and my electrician uses a lot of staples so they couldn't just pull it out easy I guess I got lucky because they got in some other houses under construction and ripped up the walls getting it out still cost me $12K . So I know what you feel Mosh.

Richard

 

[ProWraps]

mosh, maybe you can drink a case of natural light, grab your illegals, jump in yur truck, and go hunt some theives? seems like you gots the resources to quell the the theft. no?

 

[performancev]

Last year before halloween one of the local haunted houses got hit by a copper thief who caused about $30k in repairs. The idiot who was stealing the wire dropped his wallet as he was crawling under one of the houses. The owner of the park decided to go to the local scrap yard. At the exit to the scrap yard there was a truck sitting on the side of the road full of wire. Standing at a gas station close to the exit was the guy who stole the wire. Begging for change, to get gas for his truck, that stopped less than a mile from the scrap yard where he was going to sell the stolen wire. He was arrested and is in jail.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

A few months back they arrested a guy about 1 mile from my shop. 2 years ago he stole 40k worth of wire near the train tracks. they recovered a cash receipt in a nearby dumpster at that time along with a Dr Pepper can. They recently dna'd the can. Betchya he thought he got away with it.