Thieves In Dallas Make Off With $100,000 In Copper
Jack Fink
Reporting
Nov 27, 2006 10:20 pm US/Central
(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Thieves often steal copper parts from construction sites, schools and even churches. Now Dallas police say someone has made off with more than $100,000 worth of scrap copper all at once.
The Commercial Metals Company in Dallas may know more than most just how hot a commodity scrap metal, such as copper, has become. Late last month a trailer filled with 40,000 pounds of copper, worth $130,000, disappeared from their lot.
"We were quite surprised. We never had a trailer leave our yard here," said Joe Blair, Commercial Metals Company.
Blair, a Commercial Metals Company manager, believes their surveillance camera may have caught the theft on tape. Blair says, "This was planned out. Somebody knew what they were doing."
The trailer and all of the copper inside haven't been seen since the theft. The copper scraps were supposed to be going to China, where they were to be re-melted and made into new material.
Detectives say thieves wouldn't take the load to another scrap yard because people there would know it was stolen. At scrap yards across North Texas, scrap copper is worth $2.50 a pound.
"The last few months copper's been higher than it's ever been. People are just crazy about it," says Blair. "We're a scrap yard and they're stealing copper wires out of our conduits."
Three months ago, thieves were hitting Commercial Metals just about everyday. At the time the barbed wire fence stood about seven feet tall. After the thefts the owners added another four feet to the fence, but thieves are still jumping over it.
"I repair fences every week. They cut through our fences. They break down our gates. They tear our razor wire down," Blair said.
Now, Commercial Metals management has beefed up security again.
The yard is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of all of the copper... no questions asked. In a separate offer, the North Texas Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction of those responsible. The number to call is - 1-877- 373- TIPS (8477).
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