Thieves target copper
By Crystal Bonvillian
Montgomery Advertiser
A rash of recent thefts has been triggered by the skyrocketing value of used copper.
The tri-county area finds itself following a national crime trend with a recent outbreak of people stealing air conditioners for the copper parts.
Capt. Huey Thornton, a Montgomery police spokesman, said the Capital City saw at least three cases of copper-related theft last week. So far, two have been reported this week.
In an incident Monday, Eric Ziegler, 36, and Andrew Deramus, 54, both of Prattville and Tangernette Anderson, 36, of Montgomery were arrested after they allegedly were caught stealing an air conditioner from the Highland Village Apartments. All three have been charged with second-degree theft of property.
Thornton said there was another attempted theft Tuesday.
"As I was writing up a press release about the incident on Monday, I heard a call about another theft," Thornton said. "These suspects were stopped before they were actually able to steal anything, however.
"We've had several instances like this lately," Thornton said.
A recent USA Today report indicated the problem is a national one. Skyrocketing copper prices are believed to be the culprit leading criminals to raid homes and businesses for air conditioning units, electrical wiring and anything else they can get their hands on.
Brian Anderson, a field engineer supervisor for Bill Bradley Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning in Montgomery, said he's been called out on at least 15 cases of vandalism over the past month.
"They're ripping the copper out of the units, and once it is ripped out, the unit is destroyed," Anderson said. "They could be getting $1.50 worth of copper and ruining a $2,000 unit."
Plumbers with the company were recently called to a home that sustained $20,000 worth of damage when about $50 worth of copper wiring was torn from the walls, he said.
Anderson, too, blamed high copper prices for the crime wave.
"The metal market is going haywire," Anderson said. "There are shortages of aluminum, steel, tin, but copper is the most expensive."
Alan Little, general manager of Mount Scrap Material Co. in Montgomery, said copper goes for about $2 per pound, up from about 75 cents per pound.
"It's been bouncing around between $2 and $1.50 all summer," Little said. "It's higher than it has ever been."
Anderson explained that the maleability of copper makes it easy to use for plumbing and electrical work. It also makes it easy to rip out of air conditioners and walls.
Copper is 100 percent recyclable, making it more valuable than some other metals.
Steve Weaver, owner of Midstate Heating and Cooling in Montgomery, said he's gotten calls from two customers in the past month needing estimates on new cooling units because theirs had been stolen.
"I've never had this before," Weaver said. "I've had a couple of customers over the past 10 years who have had units stolen, but this is the first time because of the copper. I imagine these people are making a lot of money on them."
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