Thieves stole my neighbors Electrical Lines

[Bird]

Because of theft around here, you now have to have a special license to drop off scrap.

Ken

I think it's a good idea to require the salvage yards to get photo ID from anyone selling scrap, keep both a copy of the ID and the scrap some specified length of time, etc., but to require a special license? I'm not so sure about that.

One of my brothers just recently bought a new 2008 Ford F550. He then replaced the front bumper with a Ranch Hand grill guard/bumper. So he had a brand new F550 front bumper to dispose of, and found it was hard to get rid of, even with the truck it came off of sitting there, him willing to provide all manner of ID, etc. He did finally find a salvage yard that gave him scrap iron price for it.

 

[dmccarty]

We just had a major road, dwellings, and businesses blocked/evacuated because someone sold LIVE antitank missles and some shells to a scrap yard. A couple workers where hurt when some of the munitions went off when they where bailing up the scrap. Not clear in the reports if the Boom Boom Stuff was buried in a load of scarp or not.

So far four illegal's have been arrested based on photo id taken when they dropped of the "junk". Its not known where they got the munitions. Their houses had live and expended rounds in the yard and in the homes. The guess is that they trespassed onto Fort Bragg and picked up some of the scrap from impact areas on some ranges. Its not been clear to me if the missles had been fired and had not exploded if they where unfired.

Teams from Ft. Bragg took quite a few days finding the things that go boom and blowing them up at the scrap yard.

Later,
Dan

 

[KYErik]

Scrapping live bombs is pretty scary.

I just took in a load of scrap iron to the recycler here last week- I got 9.5 cents per pound. They didn't make me produce ID, they just had me print and sign my name on the ticket. A person could sign a fake name easily.

I like the camera idea- that way they get a photo of your license plate and they could take another photo of your load as you drove by.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

These guys got about three punds of copper.


Man Sentenced for Vandalizing Utility Box
A White Bear Lake man was sentenced this week to two years in prison for vandalism to a Qwest utility box, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Ian-David McCombs, 22, pleaded guilty last October. He admitted that he and two friends broke into the utility box on St. Paul痴 West End neighborhood. The act of vandalism disrupted service to about a thousand customers, the paper said.

 

[mboulais]

We had a 27+ yr electrician got let go from work last year for stealing metal. He was carrying as much brass and copper as he could out with his clothes in a duffle bag (not checked at gate) each day. One day he decided to speed things up. He got a scrap pass to pick wood from the scrap wood pile and the guards let him in the gate with his truck. he loaded a pile of copper and bronze into the truck and covered it with wood. Unfortunately for him, the guard checked his load and caught him.

Is a job that pays $20 /hr straight time and has about 20hrs/ wk overtime worth a few hundred dollars of scrap?

 

[EastTnFarmboy]

Yep, copper wire dosn't have serial numbers that can be reported stolen. It is like stealing gasoline, hard to positively identify. I agree, sounds like an inside job. that kind of plan takes intel.

Soundguy. Firearms still require a 24/7 operator to be effective

I have always liked the theory of automated sudden loud violent noises. The motion detector trips as they approach, and the propane cannon charges and fires, ratteling windows a quarter mile away, and stops their hearts for a couple of seconds. Or sets off a squib(blasting cap like device that sounds about like a shotgun shell/M-80 going off) hanging from a tree that leaves their ears ringing.

Not going to hurt anyone, but surely going to draw attention to the scene and make them wonder what else is waiting for them that they didnt see... At the very least, it may get the neighbors out looking around who will perhaps get a description of the truck hauling *** out of the area, hopefully not dragging some copper behind the vehicle...

Ron,

Now that I've finished laughing, would you be willing to start a post that details how to go about it? I have an old hunting cabin which trespassers seem to frequent. I think this would be a great idea to run a bunch of half/entirely drunk teenagers off. Thanks for the laugh!

 

[sawdust_maker]

Ron,

Now that I've finished laughing, would you be willing to start a post that details how to go about it? I have an old hunting cabin which trespassers seem to frequent. I think this would be a great idea to run a bunch of half/entirely drunk teenagers off. Thanks for the laugh!

Do you have many deer in the area? Any large dogs that wander through?

You may be resetting this more often than you like.

John

 

[JB4310]

Ron's ideas sound like Rambo stuff but maybe not to extreme in light of all the stories we've heard here.

They used to make weapons that would fire with trip wires, for "hunting", similar to the game cameras set up on trails, but were banned due to there indiscriminate nature.

 

[dmccarty]

In a city I work in they had not ONE but TWO cables stolen this weekend! The two lines supplied cable and Internet services to 480 homes. They might have gotten service back Sunday. The company had to truck in some cable from 90 miles away.

Later,
Dan

 

[EddieWalker]

Just an update. My neighbor put new aluminum wire in over the weekend. He has a guy that works for him on his land there, plus two other guys to get it done. Wire was $1,200 plus conduit, trencher rental and wages for the guys helping out. It took them most of a day to get it all done, but it will take years to get over what happened.

He's decided to move his working into the apartment on the barn and rent it to him just to keep an eye on things. It's very unlikey that they will steel the aluminum wire out of the ground, but the thieves know what's in the barn, so he's worried about that. With his worker living there, he'll feel allot better, and strangly, so will we. Empty land is just too tempting for thieves.

Eddie