[Jeremy R]

I have to share something this damn stupid with my fellow monkies...bear with me, it is long.

OK, we are unsuccessfully trying to get the house we are building finished up. The walls have been painted, and the hardwood floor should be here this week. Anyway, our electrician came out last week to hang the light fixtures and finish up. This is the same guy who did our prewiring after the house was framed. Anyway, he calls us right away and tells us that some lowlifes broke in our house and stole all the copper wiring, about $3000 worth. When we filed the police report, the cop that came out said that this was his 5th call that morning for the exact same thing.
Here is the deal. The people that are stealing this wiring (or copper pipes as well) are meth heads and/or crackheads who are stealing all this wiring and then taking to some salvage place where they probaly get $30 or $40 bucks for the whole thing.
They did not even get all our wiring because they did not even use a ladder, they just pull out what they can reach and take off.
Anyway, the whole situation sucked, and we are still waiting to hear back from our insurance co.

Update:
So, on the way into work this morning, on the busiest 4 lane road in my city, I see three cop cars all with their blue lights on.
They are surrounding two hobo looking guys both sitting on a tiny scooter. As I am passing the scene, I look down at the scooter and see why they got pulled.
The entire floorboard of the scooter was filled with copper wiring.
It was piled up about 3 feet high and was hanging off both sides of the scooter about 2 feet.
Silly crackheads.
I was telling my father this story and inbetween laughs, he told me that they were about 3 blocks away from the salvage place when they got caught.

 

[SK6]

Well that sucks....$3000.00 sucks, and it puts you behind schedule...Good luck!

 

[dhbuilder]

i've been helping an a/c mechanic buddy of mine install new units in a subdivision closeby.

the same thing is happening here too.

some have even eased up to electricians trucks and have taken those big wooden reels of wire.

complete condensing units are being ripped out. and are being found on old dead end streets gutted of their coils.

i also saw on the news this morning about some meth lab in a storage wharehouse facility burning the whole place down.
killing the cooker.
his wife said she left for a short time and locked him inside while he was making the crap.

amazing.

 

[LOOnatic]

gawdam tweakers causing havoc!

After the sandiego fires a few years back my block had an influx of tweakers coming in to go up the mountains across the street to scrounge up any and all wiring.
They would strip the covering on the spot and leave the plastic sleeve covering all over the place.
Turns out they actually took down live phone cable and were giving the phone utility fits.
So after a while i caught on and started getting up early to go see if they were at the "spot"
Sure enough the rotton teeth scum were too greedy to lay low.
Me, my pitbull SID-Viscious and a paintball gun took care of business and the tweakers were never seen again.




Okay actually about 3 whole weeks.:mumble:

 

[dhbuilder]

wow.
timing is everything.

a contractor just walked in.
i showed him this, and he told me that last week he lost three $10,000 a/c units freshly installed on a commercial building site.
he said they even caught one of their own plumbers coming back in the wee hours, stealing the copper pipes he'd installed all during the previous week.
he also said they're also starting to bleed the freon out of systems too.

he's going to have to start having 24hr. security on his sites soon.

 

[robdamanii]

Holy crap that sucks. 3Gs worth of wiring? What are the odds of insurance covering the theft?

And to think...I can leave my doors unlocked and go to class for 8 hours without anyone even considering breaking into the house. Makes me glad (for some odd reason) to live in a small town.

 

[jonKranked]

gawdam tweakers causing havoc!

After the sandiego fires a few years back my block had an influx of tweakers coming in to go up the mountains across the street to scrounge up any and all wiring.
They would strip the covering on the spot and leave the plastic sleeve covering all over the place.
Turns out they actually took down live phone cable and were giving the phone utility fits.
So after a while i caught on and started getting up early to go see if they were at the "spot"
Sure enough the rotton teeth scum were too greedy to lay low.
Me, my pitbull SID-Viscious and a paintball gun took care of business and the tweakers were never seen again.




Okay actually about 3 whole weeks.:mumble:

why just a paintbull gun? you should start hanging out with my buddies Smith and Wesson a little more

 

[LOOnatic]

why just a paintbull gun? you should start hanging out with my buddies Smith and Wesson a little more

Hey its california.....if i woulda used a real gun theu would probably own everthing i have due to some whacked out symphathetis lawyer taking their case.
To be honest it was more fun playing commando and popping off high pressure paintball rounds sniper style for 45 minutes.
When they finally saw where i was (and alone) they got real angry about being blasted with paint but luckily they didn't want any static with the dog.

 

[stosh]

THANK GOD these guys are doing this. They are helping to bring down the price of copper. Copper has gone thru the roof lately and these guys are doing all they can to help moderate the price gouging.

 

[Jeremy R]

Holy crap that sucks. 3Gs worth of wiring? What are the odds of insurance covering the theft?

And to think...I can leave my doors unlocked and go to class for 8 hours without anyone even considering breaking into the house. Makes me glad (for some odd reason) to live in a small town.

Well we have builders risk insurance, so we should at least get something.
Also, the house we are building IS in the country.
It is not even in a small town.
But these tweakers are hitting up ALL the construction sites.
The area we live now is closer to the city and our neighborhood is very diverse with both race and nationality. There has never been one problem in the 6 years we have been there.
This is not a big city problem.
Actually, meth heads are more known for being in rural areas.

 

[Booker]

It is everywhere. I work for a restaurant kitchen design/contracting company. About three months ago some guys broke into our gated lot and stole a trailer full of copper piping and probably 1500lbs worth of custom stainless tables, counter tops, sinks etc. Not a huge loss for us cause it was salvaged from demo and WE where planing on taking it to the scrap yard. We just got beat to the punch. The weirdest part was, they didn't take anything else. They had to move welders and tools out of the way to get to the scrap.

 

[robdamanii]

The weirdest part was, they didn't take anything else. They had to move welders and tools out of the way to get to the scrap.

Probably wanted something that's untraceable to authorities.

Well we have builders risk insurance, so we should at least get something.
Also, the house we are building IS in the country.
It is not even in a small town.
But these tweakers are hitting up ALL the construction sites.
The area we live now is closer to the city and our neighborhood is very diverse with both race and nationality. There has never been one problem in the 6 years we have been there.
This is not a big city problem.
Actually, meth heads are more known for being in rural areas.

That still sucks, even if you get full reimbursement. The time setback is going to probably hurt worse than the monetary setback.

*sigh* Guess it's time to start locking the doors. It's sad you can't trust anyone anymore. Although I'd guess the two retired couples living on either side of me would notice a tweeker ripping off crap from my home, but you never know.

 

[Jeremy R]

That still sucks, even if you get full reimbursement. The time setback is going to probably hurt worse than the monetary setback.

Yep, not only the time setback, but there are places that they have to cut into the sheetrock to fix, and the damn house has already been painted.:mumble:
If I am lucky enough to be able to stay in the house, you can bet your azz, I am never building again.

 

[goofy]

Man what some dumb people will do for a fix (especially one that destroys your teeth and make you try and pull your skin off)

btw has anybody seen the price of wire lately, $75 for 100 feet

 

[kidwoo]

30-40 bucks!!??

Thanks for the heads up man!!

 

[Jeremy R]

30-40 bucks!!??

Thanks for the heads up man!!

Make sure you get in cashed in first.
They do not take copper wiring for payment at the Bunny Ranch.

 

[N8 v2.0]

It's bad here as well....

City employees arrested in copper thefts face predisciplinary hearings
June 14, 2006
By Joel Anderson
joelanderson@gannett.com

Ten employees in Shreveport’s water and sewerage department, all of them recently arrested for allegedly stealing city materials, faced predisciplinary hearings today at Government Plaza.

The hearings started at 8:30 a.m. and lasted about 1½ hours, with each of the employees getting a chance to tell their side of the story and specifically address the allegations.

A panel of supervisors, an attorney representing the employees and representatives from the city’s personnel department and city attorney’s office sat in on the hearings.

Mike Strong, head of the city’s Department of Operational Services, said the city has already reached a decision on the fate of the employees but couldn’t elaborate because it’s a personnel issue.

The employees will “get notification of the decision today, if not tomorrow,” Strong said. “I’m not going into any details. But since the time of arrest, they have not been working.”

The employees are being investigated for allegedly taking copper and other metals designated for city use and selling them to scrap yards, a felony. Nine of the city workers were arrested last Thursday and another was booked a day later.

Today, Shreveport police also announced the arrests of two more employees in the city’s water and sewage department on unrelated charges.

Bobby Allums, 31, was arrested on a warrant of driving under suspension, and Terry Coleman, 56, was arrested on a warrant of property standards code. The charges came from the City Marshal’s Office.

The investigation into the copper thefts started about a month ago with the arrest of William Okray, 27, of Shreveport.

Copper, aluminum and city signs were disappearing from the city warehouse and job sites. Strong said the city is unsure how much is missing because the materials were handed out based on requisitions and taken to job sites.

The employees arrested in the investigation are: Okray; Jerry Smith, 43, Mansfield; Harold Lee Taylor, 40, Bossier City; and Melvin Alford, 53; Ricky Dee Brown, 34; Karlo Clarkson, 50; Jerry Fields, 53; Adrian West, 37; Lindell White, 50; and Leroy White, 44, all of Shreveport.

Some of the employees, huddled outside a conference room at the city’s Department of Operational Services, refused to comment.

J.T. Lunt Jr., the city’s personnel director, said decisions are usually made pretty quickly at these sort of hearings, assuming they’re not “intricate and complicated.”

“It just depends on what is at stake,” Lunt said. “But very often, the decision is made at the (hearing) about what to do and communicated to the employee.”

The thefts may stem from the rapid rise in the price of scrap metal as the cost of raw copper rises. The cost of raw copper has increased by about 300 percent, rising from $1 a pound to $4 a pound.

Shreveport is paying 14 percent to 16 percent more for some metals this year, Strong said.

Three weeks ago, three Benton men were arrested in connection with the theft of copper pipes and wiring from houses under construction in the Benton area, causing an estimated $50,000 in damage to the structures. The trio allegedly took the copper to scrap yards in Louisiana and Texas then spent the money on booze, drugs and gas.

 

[jimmydean]

Meth related crime is the only crime in my little counrty town. They stole all the railing off the freeway AND all the guards off two bridges! The scrap yard got in trouble and now you have to show ID to cash in. You would think the scrap yard would know what highway guard rails look like.

 

[kidwoo]

They do not take copper wiring for payment at the Bunny Ranch.

Yes they do. fkkn newb

 

[Westy]

They just need to start leaving the breakers on at worksites.

 

[Sherpa]

Someone stole a tiled in jacuzzi from a house down the street. ****in' bandits

 

[Westy]

When I was working in Ca some thieves used a plasma torch to cut into the locked container used to store tools at a nearby construction sight.

 

[Echo]

Why don't the cops grow some brains and crack down on the salvage yards that are buying obviously stolen merchandise?

 

[LOOnatic]

Why don't the cops grow some brains and crack down on the salvage yards that are buying obviously stolen merchandise?

you mean like the government going after business who employ illegals?

Good luck.......it makes too much sense

 

[dhbuilder]

Why don't the cops grow some brains and crack down on the salvage yards that are buying obviously stolen merchandise?

believe it or not.
they do have police set up outside a large scrapyard here in town.

 

[stosh]

When the electrican priced the job we're working on the feeder cable was $3/ft now when they went to purchase it, it cost $11/ft.
They needed something like 300' of it. It went from $900 to $3300 and thats just the feeder cable !!!! I think the total job went up $50k total just in the price of wire.

 

[jimmydean]

Why don't the cops grow some brains and crack down on the salvage yards that are buying obviously stolen merchandise?

Like I said, now you show ID at scrap yards in my area. It's like your buying cough meds or something.

 

[brungeman]

Someone stole a tiled in jacuzzi from a house down the street. ****in' bandits

so did you figure out all the controls on your new hot tub?

 

[maxyedor]

Wow, I had no idea about this copper theft. You learn something new everyday. This does renforce my thinking that meth is the absolute worst drug a human can ingest.

 

[Sherpa]

so did you figure out all the controls on your new hot tub?

Theres this one button that I can't quite figure out what it's for. I think one of the color changing light bulbs is burned out so it's not working exactly right. But other than that, it's nice.

 

[jaydee]

Here's one about a scuzzy in Vancouver who tried to steal a live wire. Too dumb to live.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=23300fcd-ae18-48dc-bef1-43935f702213

 

[manimal]

dude...I hate to say it Jeremy but i deal with that crap ALL THE TIME! it gets so friggin' annoying. anytime we have a new development pop up they pretty much have to hire off-duty officers to watch the place or else appliances/wiring/tools just walk away. a lot of them are inside jobs because they happen within hours of the appliances being delivered.
we eventually snag most of them, usually in some dilapitated house that has new and mismatched aluminum siding and a whole bunch of landscaping rocks....in the hood. then we go inside and find 50+ ceiling fans, stoves, microwaves.....you get the drift.

i hate it for you bro....but such is the time we live in