Burton Police say thieves are after the copper inside
GENESEE COUNTY -- Sgt. Mike Odette of the Burton Police Department says thefts of commercial and even residential air conditioning units are up dramatically in the last year. He says copper is the hot commodity and with the down economy thieves are looking to snag some quick cash, recently going so far as to steal a large commercial unit from the roof of an Office Max on Court St. How do thieves pull something like that off? "A big truck and a couple of men I would imagine," says Odette, "in some cases they would require a ladder to get on the roof.
Why go through that trouble? The copper-aluminum alloy inside goes for about $1.25 per pound. It's less than a third the price of pure copper, but it rises and falls with the price of copper, and it has skyrocketed in the last three years. Heating and cooling professionals tell NBC25 that in a large unit, thieves can snag as much as 60 pounds of the alloy, money that before was pocket change now begins to add up for thieves.
Odette says with the economy still struggling, people are turning to desperate measures, even going into vacant homes and stealing copper, adn they recently apprehended someone doing just that. When they aren't caught, they take the metal to a recycling center. That is where the trail goes cold. "Some of the recycling centers have been very helpful in assisting with our investigations others are not cooperating with our investigations and that is where we believe the thieves are taking the copper."
Odette says he believes there are many thieves and not just one or two, and that the crimes are occuring late at night. They are also not just happening in Burton but all over Genesee County. If you see this activity going on in your neighborhood, he says you should contact your local law enforcement right away.
