Nov 3, 2006 10:25 pm US/Central
Burglars Targeting Copper
(WCCO)
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Sherburne County authorities say they've cracked a ring responsible for 19 burglaries across five rural counties. The ring targeted homes under construction and business that stored copper. (File)
CBS
With worldwide demand for copper skyrocketing, the lightweight metal is getting popular with thieves who sell it for scrap.
Friday in Hennepin County, three people were charged with stealing $35,000 worth of copper from a Minneapolis construction site.
Sherburne County authorities say they've cracked a ring responsible for 19 burglaries across five rural counties. The ring targeted homes under construction and business that stored copper.
"They're burning the insulation or the plastic off the wire," said Sherburne County Sheriff Bruce Anderson, "and then cutting it into different lengths and taking it to salvage yards."
Anderson said scrap yards were paying $2.20 a pound for copper.
"There's no identification," he continued, "you go in with a load, they weigh you and they pay you -- it's cash -- and away you go."
Harold Goldfine gets his scrap direct at Alliance Steel Service Company from manufacturers only. He says full service scrappers take a name and driver's license when they get a delivery, but have no way of determining if it's stolen goods.
"There are ways, with copper being a soft item that you can mold," he said, "the copper wire that you can strip -- it's not going to look like what it did when they stole it."
Sheriff Anderson said the ring stole "thousands of dollars worth of items." They included copper wiring and tubing, but also power tools and pallets. He said the ring burned off the insulation in a fire pit on a farm where the some members lived.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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