"Church Air Conditioners Stolen"

Xringer · 02-01-11, 10:25 PM

Just News Google "Church Air Conditioners Stolen" and wow! Hits galore!

Druggies are feeding their addictions by selling copper to the junkyard.

I might have to increase security on my Sanyo!

Ryland · 02-02-11, 07:38 AM

Friend of mine bought a house a year or so ago and between the closing and the time they moved in (a week or so) someone broke in and stole the copper water pipes, apparently it's a common problem.

Xringer · 02-02-11, 08:21 AM

http://www.oneinhundred.com/upfiles/...pl-5359263.jpg

"He told police he was stealing copper to support his Oxycontin and heroin habit, police said."

I think there is something in Oxycontin that makes your nose sensitive to copper..

The Oxycontin fools are always breaking into the local phone co yards.
Sometimes they mistakenly take optical fiber. Poor dumb jerks..

Piwoslaw · 02-02-11, 08:42 AM

You should be happy you're not in Poland...
Poles have been known to steal all sorts of things for scrap metal: Manhole covers (imagine driving at night to find a 75cm diameter, 4 meter deep hole in the road) and telephone lines are standard, everyday practice, as are fences, sign posts, and antena towers. Transformer substations and overhead catenary lines are also quite common (disconnected while powered with 3000 volts!), and taking a few hundred meters of railroad track in 3-4 hours happens a few times a year. And I don't mean sidings at rural stations, these are urban main lines which get high speed trains.

Oh, and bridges are known to disappear, like the 400 ton bridge near Gdańsk. But bridge stealing is getting more and more popular around the world (Bosnia and New Zealand come to mind), so that's nothing to brag about.

benpope · 02-02-11, 08:48 AM

Empty buildings are particularly susceptible. Back in 2008 I was taking my wife to work and saw three guys at a church building that was for sale putting an AC compressor into the trunk of their car--and this was at 9 in the morning. I didn't bother calling the police since in my experience they can't be troubled with simple theft.

Also around that time, my neighbor (who owns the house but doesn't live there) had two HVAC systems installed in his house. I was checking on things over there one day and they were gone--just cut off ragged at the refrigerant lines. He suspected that the installer came back and "repossessed" them to sell them again.

AC theft has created a cottage industry here for custom-built steel cages to put around compressors. At this point most buildings that are in use have protective cages while vacant buildings no longer have compressors.

That's funny about the optical fiber. I can only imagine their faces when they find out what they have taken is glass and not copper.

benpope · 02-02-11, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Oh, and bridges are known to disappear, like the 400 ton bridge near Gdańsk. But bridge stealing is getting more and more popular around the world (Bosnia and New Zealand come to mind), so that's nothing to brag about.

Wow - I guess at $0.32 per kg for iron you have to think big to fund a drug habit

. It sounds like our gangs are apparently much less well organized and entrepreneurial than the ones in Eastern Europe.

Xringer · 02-02-11, 09:53 AM

So, if you wake up some morning and see a gang stealing the bridge you use
to get to work everyday, is there any cops around you can call?

Or, do you have to get out your AK47 and tell those boys to go find another bridge?

Even when things go into the crapper, I think bridge-gangs would have to be very sneaky in the USA.
There are a lot of gun owners here. Ill-tempered people too..

Xringer · 02-02-11, 09:55 AM

"New Zealand"?? Do they have a drug problem there? Or is it just pranksters?

strider3700 · 02-02-11, 12:22 PM

I remember reading something from someone in florida I believe who mentioned that the cages around emergency generators for hurricanes just gave the thieves some extra scrap to sell when they sold the generator. It's really hard to secure something if no one is going to stop the thieves while they work on it.

Xringer · 02-02-11, 01:29 PM

Some thieves aren't too bight and a few get killed trying to steal items that are powered up.
I saw something last year where they were trying to steal some HV power lines.
Turned them into charcoal briquettes.

02-01-11, 10:25 PM	#1
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	"Church Air Conditioners Stolen" Just News Google "Church Air Conditioners Stolen" and wow! Hits galore! Druggies are feeding their addictions by selling copper to the junkyard. I might have to increase security on my Sanyo!

02-02-11, 08:42 AM	#4
Piwoslaw Super Moderator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Warsaw, Poland Posts: 961 Thanks: 188 Thanked 110 Times in 86 Posts	You should be happy you're not in Poland... Poles have been known to steal all sorts of things for scrap metal: Manhole covers (imagine driving at night to find a 75cm diameter, 4 meter deep hole in the road) and telephone lines are standard, everyday practice, as are fences, sign posts, and antena towers. Transformer substations and overhead catenary lines are also quite common (disconnected while powered with 3000 volts!), and taking a few hundred meters of railroad track in 3-4 hours happens a few times a year. And I don't mean sidings at rural stations, these are urban main lines which get high speed trains. Oh, and bridges are known to disappear, like the 400 ton bridge near Gdańsk. But bridge stealing is getting more and more popular around the world (Bosnia and New Zealand come to mind), so that's nothing to brag about. __________________ Ecorenovation - the bottomless piggy bank that tries to tame the energy hog.

02-02-11, 07:38 AM	#2
Ryland Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Western Wisconsin. Posts: 913 Thanks: 127 Thanked 82 Times in 71 Posts	Friend of mine bought a house a year or so ago and between the closing and the time they moved in (a week or so) someone broke in and stole the copper water pipes, apparently it's a common problem.

02-02-11, 08:21 AM	#3
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	http://www.oneinhundred.com/upfiles/...pl-5359263.jpg "He told police he was stealing copper to support his Oxycontin and heroin habit, police said." I think there is something in Oxycontin that makes your nose sensitive to copper.. The Oxycontin fools are always breaking into the local phone co yards. Sometimes they mistakenly take optical fiber. Poor dumb jerks..

02-02-11, 08:48 AM	#5
benpope Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 95 Thanks: 16 Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts	Empty buildings are particularly susceptible. Back in 2008 I was taking my wife to work and saw three guys at a church building that was for sale putting an AC compressor into the trunk of their car--and this was at 9 in the morning. I didn't bother calling the police since in my experience they can't be troubled with simple theft. Also around that time, my neighbor (who owns the house but doesn't live there) had two HVAC systems installed in his house. I was checking on things over there one day and they were gone--just cut off ragged at the refrigerant lines. He suspected that the installer came back and "repossessed" them to sell them again. AC theft has created a cottage industry here for custom-built steel cages to put around compressors. At this point most buildings that are in use have protective cages while vacant buildings no longer have compressors. That's funny about the optical fiber. I can only imagine their faces when they find out what they have taken is glass and not copper.

02-02-11, 09:53 AM	#7
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	So, if you wake up some morning and see a gang stealing the bridge you use to get to work everyday, is there any cops around you can call? Or, do you have to get out your AK47 and tell those boys to go find another bridge? Even when things go into the crapper, I think bridge-gangs would have to be very sneaky in the USA. There are a lot of gun owners here. Ill-tempered people too..

02-02-11, 09:55 AM	#8
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	"New Zealand"?? Do they have a drug problem there? Or is it just pranksters?

02-02-11, 12:22 PM	#9
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I remember reading something from someone in florida I believe who mentioned that the cages around emergency generators for hurricanes just gave the thieves some extra scrap to sell when they sold the generator. It's really hard to secure something if no one is going to stop the thieves while they work on it.

02-02-11, 01:29 PM	#10
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	Some thieves aren't too bight and a few get killed trying to steal items that are powered up. I saw something last year where they were trying to steal some HV power lines. Turned them into charcoal briquettes.