The Wall Street Journal
Copper and Robbers: Homeowners' Latest Worry
Thieves Target Wires, Pipes, Air Conditioners As Price of Hot Commodity Soars
By SARA SCHAEFER MUÑOZ and PAUL GLADER
September 6, 2006; Page D1
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The high price of copper is hitting home -- literally. The metal's skyrocketing scrap value is inspiring criminals to hit houses, making off with copper coils in air-conditioning units, copper wires, even the copper pipes used for plumbing, leaving some perplexed residents without running water.
In the past several months, police departments across the country have reported a surge in the number of copper-related thefts at homes, businesses and elsewhere. Police have reported everything from copper vases swiped from gravesites to more serious thefts, such as the copper wire stolen recently from a power substation in Oklahoma City that utility officials say caused a six-hour power outage for 4,000 customers. Sometimes thieves steal less than $100 worth of the metal but cause many times more in damages. Police in Detroit, for example, are reporting thousands of dollars in repair costs for street lights that have been stripped of copper components.
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Copper isn't the only metal sought by thieves. Products made from aluminum and steel are also being targeted -- everything from beer kegs to aluminum luggage carts. But thefts of copper -- which commands a higher price -- are especially onerous for homeowners and builders, as the metal is used throughout modern homes, including the inner coil of central air-conditioning units, electrical systems, gutters and water pipes. Residential air-conditioning units in particular are becoming popular with thieves. The copper insides of a condensing unit -- the portion of a central-air system that sits outside -- can fetch $50 to $150 at a scrapyard, while replacing an entire unit that's been plundered can cost $2,000 or more. Thieves often target units sitting unwatched at new construction sites or empty homes, but more brazen ones will strike even when residents are home. Noreen Alexander, a 62-year-old retired social worker, was in her Detroit home one hot morning this summer when she heard a strange noise out back. About 10 minutes later, her nephew noticed that the outdoor unit of her central air conditioner was gone. "I never believed anyone would steal an air conditioner that size, period," Ms. Alexander says. "Was I mad! I was hotter than the weather."
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Another target for thieves is copper piping, which often runs exposed beneath many older homes. Jared Barker, a 27-year-old corrections officer, was renovating his home in Huntington, W.Va., and left it unattended one night last month. He returned to find the kitchen tap not working. After checking below the house, he found that about a thousand dollars worth of copper pipe was gone. He was amazed that thieves would make off with the pipes in the roughly 10 hours he was away. "It takes a lot of guts to crawl underneath somebody's house and cut their pipes out," he says.
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In response to the rash of thefts, cities are starting to crack down. Montgomery, Ala., recently passed an ordinance requiring scrapyards to report the copper they take in to the police department, and police in Detroit are making sure local scrapyards are licensed and are collecting identification information from people who sell them the metal.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115750190918654533.html (subscription)
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