Price Hikes Lead to Rash of Metal Thefts

Thieves target copper, aluminum, and bronze—even if it’s bolted down

By Emma Schwartz
Posted March 27, 2008

In Columbus, Ohio, Reeb-Hosack Community Baptist Church has paid $15,000 to replace two stolen air conditioners. In Lake Worth, Fla., in January, $18,750 worth of bronze and brass pots disappeared from the graves of a local cemetery. And in the Central Valley of California, pilfered metal from irrigation equipment cost farmers millions of dollars last year alone.

Across the country, metal theft is dramatically on the rise, and it is taking a heavy toll on businesses, homeowners, and law enforcement. The cause is the soaring price of, among other materials, copper, aluminum, and bronze. Copper, for instance, fetched just 75 cents a pound five years ago; now it is worth more than $3.60, largely because of increased demand from China and India. “Thieves are always looking for targets of opportunity,” says Bruce Savage, spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, “and this is suddenly a new sort of opportunity.”

The opportunities seem to be everywhere. Catalytic converters—sources of palladium and platinum—have been pulled out of cars, gutters and aluminum siding are being ripped off occupied houses, and foreclosed homes are being stripped of copper pipes and wiring. In Fullerton, Calif., the Golden Hill Little League was forced to cancel practices and reschedule games when the theft of copper wire disabled its lights in February. “To put it in kids’ words,” says league president Kurt Blodgett, “it was just a big bummer.”

Utilities, not surprisingly, have been particularly vulnerable to metal thefts. A break-in last summer led to a power outage at a rural outpost of the Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives. And thefts are now so common at unguarded substations that many utility representatives have simply stopped reporting them. “We just can’t seem to get control of it,” says spokesman Steve Oden.

Although stolen metal is worth a lot to the thieves, many of whom, police say, are drug addicts looking to support their habits, the costs are far higher for businesses and homeowners who must fix damaged property. Three men arrested in New Jersey last month for stealing copper bricks from cellphone towers estimate they netted $3,000 from each tower, police say. But the cellphone companies will have to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 for each tower to make repairs.

Cracking down. Some robberies have ended in tragedy. In Iowa, someone stealing copper pipes from a farmhouse last August accidentally cut the propane line, filling the house with gas, says Monona County Sheriff Jeffrey Pratt. When the 80-year-old owner tried to plug in a fan, the building exploded and killed him.

One reason for the growing number of metal thefts is that many states don’t require scrap metal dealers to keep good records about whom they purchase materials from. And even where laws do exist, police have been slow to enforce them.

That is beginning to change. Last year, 26 state legislatures and several cities toughened penalties for metal theft or increased reporting requirements for scrap dealers. Most simply require dealers to record identification information or a thumbprint of sellers so that stolen goods can be traced.

But some of the most successful efforts have come through old-fashioned police work. In Macon, Ga., police formed a committee of scrap dealers, home builders, utilities, railroads, and prosecutors in the fall of 2006. They developed an alert system for stolen metals and lobbied for a state law making theft above $500 a felony. The results look promising: There were 84 metal thefts in December 2006; in February of this year there were just 18.

Elsewhere, though, the problem remains as stubborn as ever. Phoenix has watched metal theft rise by more than 400 percent since 2003, causing damages of more than $7.2 million last year. New state reporting requirements have helped, police say, but a sting operation ending in January found that nine out of 25 scrap dealers were out of compliance. Police Chief Raymond Hayducka of South Brunswick, N.J., says there is a limit to what law enforcement can do. “If there’s a market for it,” he says, “people are going to try to obtain it.”

Copyright © 2009 U.S. News & World Report LP All rights reserved

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Copper Theft Killing Now a Cold Case Investigation

Posted: May 8, 2008 10:29 PM

 

 

Onawa, IA – On the quiet outskirts of town near Onawa, Iowa is the scene of an unsolved and deadly copper crime.

Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt got the call last August from a well-respected landlord in town. “Elderly gentleman who would give you the shirt off his back to help anybody. It’s something we want to get solved.”

The landlord, Earl Thelander, had celebrated his 80th birthday just a few months earlier in May of 2007 with his large family, 6 kids, five step children and 23 grandchildren.

One son, Brad Thelander recalls that day, “I had called dad about 10:30 that morning. He was just disgusted, he said they took all the cooper out and couldn’t believe it.”

When Mr. Thelander noticed the break-in and smelled the gas, he turned it off and called 911. Earl opened some windows and went home to wait for the air to clear. The Sheriff left the scene too. “We went back into town to fill out reports and two and a half hours later, the explosion happened.”

Another son, Doug Thelander says, “A ball of fire blew him across the basement. He walked up the stairs out of the basement and he tried to make a call and he couldn’t. He drove home to his wife three miles, badly, badly burnt.”

The sheriff says when the thief or thieves cut the copper to the propane gas lines, they left behind a ticking time bomb. Sheriff Pratt: “Where the furnace area is right there is where he was attempting to plug in a fan — that’s what caused the explosion.”

Before the 2nd and 3rd degree burns started to do their damage, Earl was sitting up and talking at the Onawa hospital. His daughter Vicki was the first one at the hospital. She says, “First thing he says, ‘Don’t be calling everybody. I’m fine.'”

Doug Thelander: “One thing he did say, ‘I didn’t smell anything Doug.’ This is a guy who worked around propane all his life. He had heating and air conditioning businesses and before that worked for a propane outfit.”

Doctors put Mr. Thelander in a medically induced coma for the helicopter flight to Omaha. He never woke up. Sheriff Pratt: “We checked with the fire department and it (propane gas) was off, just the lingering vapors in the house.”

The night of Monday August 27, 2007, Earl Thelander had just finished up work on the Onawa home hoping to rent. The sheriff believes copper thieves knew the home would be empty that night.

Daughter Vicki: “I am sure the persons involved didn’t do this and didn’t expect this to happen. They probably just thought they would go in and get easy money and walk out.”

Earl Thelander’s death may be the first in the country where thieves cashing in on copper killed a man.
It’s a first in quiet Monona County, where even stealing copper rarely happens.

Sheriff Pratt: “This is a very big cold case for us. We never had a murder in the county, back in 69 or 70 and that was solved and we arrested the husband.”

Someone has to know something. That’s what the sheriff and the Thelanders think… And they even believe that someone is close to the family.

Asking Brad: “Why would they stand up now and do the right thing? Brad says, so they could live with themselves, they gotta live with this. They hurt a lot of people and it’s important they don’t continue the path they are on or they will hurt more people.”

The thieves may have gotten away with the goods, but they robbed the Thelander family of much more than a bundle of copper. Doug says, “We shouldn’t have lost dad that way. Some two bit thief for less than 20 dollars worth of copper, this is the result. Dad is burned and dies. How do you live with that?”

The family hopes if someone’s conscience doesn’t get to them, maybe money will help.

They’re offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who can help solve the copper theft killing of their father.

Call 1-800-859-1414.

Reported by Michelle Bandur

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Onawa, IA

Remembering Earl Thelander

Posted: May 10, 2008 08:13 PM

A hometown gathers to remember a Monona County man who died last year. Earl Thelander died September, 1st 2007 from burns he suffered in an explosion after copper thieves stole copper piping from his rural Onawa, Iowa property.

A special ceremony was held Saturday in front of the Veteran’s Memorial Museum in Onawa. Those attending dedicated two spruce trees that were planted Friday. A cement bench will also be installed to help the entire family remember the husband, father, and grandfather.

“We can come out here, and the kids come to the swimming pool, and so, they can always say, you know, that tree was planted in memory of my grandpa,” says Hope Thelander, Earl’s wife.

Friday would have been Thelander’s 81st birthday. The investigation into who stole the copper is still ongoing.

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Remembering Earl Thelander

From KTIV News Channel 4 in Sioux City, Iowa
May 10, 2008

Onawa, IA — A year ago on May 9, 2007, Earl Thelander was happily celebrating his 80th birthday with his wife and 11 children.

Sadly, Earl died in September from burns he suffered in a house explosion caused by copper thieves.

Through Saturday’s steady sound of rain, Earl Thelander’s family dedicated two evergreen trees planted in his memory at the Monona County Veteran’s Memorial Museum. Earl had served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Norway and Colorado Spruces were gifts donated by the Internet Writing Workshop — an online community where writers submit and critique written works — and Doug Kuhlmann, who worked for Earl’s plumbing and heating business for 10 years before Earl retired. William Wonder, curator of the museum, worked with the family to have the trees planted at the museum where Earl’s flag resides. A memorial bench will be placed near the Norway Spruce at a later date.

The explosion that claimed Earl’s life occurred in a rural home he and his wife Hope were preparing for a renter. No arrests have been made, and the case is now classified as a cold case.

“He was a very special person,” said Hope. “He was loved by everybody. They took a very special person from a lot of people’s lives.”

Six days after Earl’s funeral, Hope was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It wasn’t that big of a thing at all,” she said. “It never has been because it was so minor to what else I had gone through, and missing Earl was more important. I just was never worried about the cancer.”

“She drew strength from Earl, he drew strength from her, and she’s never let the cancer get in the way of what she’s doing,” said Hope’s daughter Jody.

Nor does Hope feel bitter. “I don’t sit around and just feel bitter about it because you can’t do that,” Hope said. “I just pray that the person will do the right thing.”

Despite missing Earl, the family is hopeful that one day the person or persons responsible for his death will be caught.

Until then the Thelanders will remember their loving father and the legacy he left behind.

If you have any information about the copper robbery that led to Earl Thelander’s death, please call the Monona County Sheriff’s Office at 1-800-859-1414.

Callers may remain anonymous, and there is a $5,000 reward for information.
The Earl Thelander family extends their deepest thanks to the Internet Writing Workshop and to Doug and Cindy Kuhlmann for the beautiful memorial trees. Your generous gifts will ensure Earl’s memory lives on in the great outdoors he so loved. The family also extends a special thanks to William Wonder for providing the perfect location for the trees to grow and thrive.

 

DesMoinesRegister.com

 

‘Urban miners’ scrap plans to steal metals

By TOM ALEX
Register Staff Writer

November 19, 2008 12:53 PM

A steep drop in scrap metal prices has translated to a drop in crime, Des Moines police say.

Lt. Mark Morgan said the theft of copper, aluminum and other metals has slowed as the prices criminals get for them has gone down. Specific numbers aren’t tracked, but Harold Burns of Burns Electric in Des Moines doesn’t need statistics to know something has changed dramatically.

“Thefts truly have slowed down,” said Burns, who not long ago installed an extensive surveillance system at his business to deter thieves. “The price of scrap metal is down. Thieves want to be paid well for what they do. They don’t work cheap.”

So-called “urban miners” have enjoyed a lucrative run that started with an uptick in copper and aluminum prices in 2005. A pound of copper that fetched less than $1 per pound in 2001 was up to $3.50 by 2006. The U.S. Department of Energy put the cost of thefts from U.S. utility companies at $1 billion between 2006 and 2007.

As the prices escalated, so did raids on vacant homes and businesses where pipe and wiring were ripped out of walls. Spools of copper wire were stolen from utility trucks. Outside air conditioners were targeted. So were auto parts. Metal fences were chopped down at ballparks. Bleacher seats were stolen. Cemetery markers were taken.

The pursuit of metal even turned deadly:

– Police said Jason Knowles, 34, of Indianola was trying to cut wire from a power pole when he was electrocuted last fall on Des Moines’ south side.

– A thief who stripped copper tubing from a propane tank in western Iowa in August was blamed for a buildup of gas in a house. The explosion killed 80-year-old Earl Thelander of Onawa.

Police in other states have reported a similar anecdotal drop in scrap metal crime as prices drop. The high prices resulted from heavy demand from India and China. But as the world economy slows, so does the profit from stolen metal.

“Demand has fallen off tremendously. Copper has fallen from over $4 a pound to about $1.62 now. Aluminum is down, the same with scrap iron,” said Bruce Babcock, professor of economics at Iowa State University. “It’s not just scrap metal, it’s the price of crude oil, wheat, even fertilizer. The world economy turned on a dime about last June. Construction slowed down, the economy slowed in China. Demand for metal slowed here and seemingly the rest of the world followed.”

Creighton Cox, spokesman for the Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines, said the drop-off in prices and thefts is good, if temporary, news. “I haven’t heard much about copper and scrap metal thefts lately. It’s down, but it’s still a concern,” he said. “I’m not sure if it’s down because of the price, or the fact that construction normally slows down a little in the fall anyway.”

Copyright The Des Moines Register

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