Copper Thieves Die Trying

…Most copper thefts are nuisances, such as a recent rash at a Maryland youth baseball park that has left Little Leaguers without lights for night games.

But increasingly, thieves are turning to the highest-quality sources of copper — power substations, utility poles and electrical boxes — and turning over the easy-to-recycle wiring to scrap dealers.


The practice is so dangerous that utility workers refer to it as ”a dance with the devil.” But it is profitable for those who don’t get hurt.

Copper prices have shot up almost fourfold in the past decade, an increase attributed to rising demand from Asia. Copper now trades on financial markets for about $3.60 a pound. The metal is hard to trace and retains its value well when recycled, so thieves are even targeting copper alloys such as brass.

Pipes and air conditioners have been stripped from homes and churches. California farmers have had irrigation machinery plucked. In Guam, 34 brass panels on a World War II memorial were stripped earlier this month. Thieves last year stole $10,000 worth of brass toilet flush valves from parks around Honolulu.

Police in Maryland, Ohio and Wisconsin say copper urns or brass plates have vanished from cemeteries.

AP