- Jan 6, 2006
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- 2,532
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett AT Pro, Ace 250 & Ace 400
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
This report was featured in our local paper...somewhat different in the headlines than on the WWW.
Front page has HOT METAL -Thieves will take copper tubing, sprinkler heads, aluminum siding - even the kitchen sink. in big bold print. The pictures included in the paper and not with the internet news, has WHEELS - aluminum, such as in these aluminum wheels can bring about 50 cents per pound, depending on grade. HOT ITEM - Copper wire and tubing is the hot item, forcing scrap metal buyers to keep recise records of who they purchase from to avoid running afoul of the law. The price of copper is over $3 per pound, and theft of the material has reach epidemic proportions in the area.
By Don Ellzey
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 9:18 AM CDT
Theft reports Monday included 669 sprinkler heads from a farmer’s field, aluminum stolen from the side of a mobile home, copper tubing stolen from a medical building under construction and a large stainless steel sink from a Ponchatoula business.
“It just never ends,” said Sgt. Mark Apperson, shaking his head as he scanned the reports that morning at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office substation in Hammond.
The bright side was that arrests were made for the theft of items containing copper from Little River United Pentecostal Church, 11005 Hwy 442, Tickfaw and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 24153 Hwy 190 East, Hammond.
“We get warrants and make arrests, but they just keep coming,” Chief Deputy Dennis Pevey said.
The object of the thefts, he said, is metal — copper, aluminum, brass and now scrap iron.
Copper is selling for over $3 per pound, possibly over $3.50 per pound. Aluminum goes for 35 cents to 45 cents per pound, depending on the grade. Red brass brings $1.70 per pound and scrap metal brings whatever the market is offering at the time.
The aluminum siding was unscrewed and stolen from the side of a mobile home on Johnson Lane in Natalbany. Apperson said aluminum was used on older manufactured homes.
No arrests have been made for the aluminum theft, and the case is still under investigation.
The sprinkler nozzles, made of brass, were stolen from a farmer’s field in the Tickfaw community. Apperson said Roger Parker, 39, of 55511 Jacobson Lane, Tickfaw, was arrested and booked for alleged theft of the nozzles.
“It’s all profit,” Apperson said. “They have no overhead except the gas, and they possibly steal that.”
The medical facility off the Interstate 12 service road near Hammond was probably the biggest hit, Pevey said. The break-in was discovered June 7. The thieves were after copper pipe. They cut a pipe in which the water was on, flooding the structure.
The copper tubing in the building was stolen. That included medical gas copper tubing for disbursing oxygen to patients. It’s a special tubing and very expensive to replace. Pevey said the replacement cost would probably be about $25,000.
No wiring was taken because apparently the thieves got what they wanted with the tubing, he said.
But the water extensively damaged the sheet rock and other materials, making for an expensive repair job.
The building owners have since hired security guards, he said.
The break-in is still under investigation, Pevey said.
Sgt. Alex Richardson, who is handling the church thefts, said air conditioning units at the churches were stolen for their copper tubing and aluminum. A keyboard, stereo and pantry items were also taken from the Pentecostal church.
The Hammond Police Departmnt contacted Richardson and Detective Raymond Foster Jr. about suspects possibly involved with the thefts. Derrick Allison, 21, Shane Crawford, 18, and Bronze Williams, 18, all of Independence, were the allegedly perpetrators. Williams allegedly said he and Allison were responsible for the thefts at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He said they wanted the copper.
Also reportedly, he said he and Roy Gross, along with a juvenile, were responsible for the thefts at the Pentecostal church. He allegedly said he and Allison stole a .22 caliber handgun, two .44 caliber handguns and five laptop computers from a residence on East Club Deluxe Road.
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Front page has HOT METAL -Thieves will take copper tubing, sprinkler heads, aluminum siding - even the kitchen sink. in big bold print. The pictures included in the paper and not with the internet news, has WHEELS - aluminum, such as in these aluminum wheels can bring about 50 cents per pound, depending on grade. HOT ITEM - Copper wire and tubing is the hot item, forcing scrap metal buyers to keep recise records of who they purchase from to avoid running afoul of the law. The price of copper is over $3 per pound, and theft of the material has reach epidemic proportions in the area.
By Don Ellzey
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 9:18 AM CDT
Theft reports Monday included 669 sprinkler heads from a farmer’s field, aluminum stolen from the side of a mobile home, copper tubing stolen from a medical building under construction and a large stainless steel sink from a Ponchatoula business.
“It just never ends,” said Sgt. Mark Apperson, shaking his head as he scanned the reports that morning at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office substation in Hammond.
The bright side was that arrests were made for the theft of items containing copper from Little River United Pentecostal Church, 11005 Hwy 442, Tickfaw and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 24153 Hwy 190 East, Hammond.
“We get warrants and make arrests, but they just keep coming,” Chief Deputy Dennis Pevey said.
The object of the thefts, he said, is metal — copper, aluminum, brass and now scrap iron.
Copper is selling for over $3 per pound, possibly over $3.50 per pound. Aluminum goes for 35 cents to 45 cents per pound, depending on the grade. Red brass brings $1.70 per pound and scrap metal brings whatever the market is offering at the time.
The aluminum siding was unscrewed and stolen from the side of a mobile home on Johnson Lane in Natalbany. Apperson said aluminum was used on older manufactured homes.
No arrests have been made for the aluminum theft, and the case is still under investigation.
The sprinkler nozzles, made of brass, were stolen from a farmer’s field in the Tickfaw community. Apperson said Roger Parker, 39, of 55511 Jacobson Lane, Tickfaw, was arrested and booked for alleged theft of the nozzles.
“It’s all profit,” Apperson said. “They have no overhead except the gas, and they possibly steal that.”
The medical facility off the Interstate 12 service road near Hammond was probably the biggest hit, Pevey said. The break-in was discovered June 7. The thieves were after copper pipe. They cut a pipe in which the water was on, flooding the structure.
The copper tubing in the building was stolen. That included medical gas copper tubing for disbursing oxygen to patients. It’s a special tubing and very expensive to replace. Pevey said the replacement cost would probably be about $25,000.
No wiring was taken because apparently the thieves got what they wanted with the tubing, he said.
But the water extensively damaged the sheet rock and other materials, making for an expensive repair job.
The building owners have since hired security guards, he said.
The break-in is still under investigation, Pevey said.
Sgt. Alex Richardson, who is handling the church thefts, said air conditioning units at the churches were stolen for their copper tubing and aluminum. A keyboard, stereo and pantry items were also taken from the Pentecostal church.
The Hammond Police Departmnt contacted Richardson and Detective Raymond Foster Jr. about suspects possibly involved with the thefts. Derrick Allison, 21, Shane Crawford, 18, and Bronze Williams, 18, all of Independence, were the allegedly perpetrators. Williams allegedly said he and Allison were responsible for the thefts at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He said they wanted the copper.
Also reportedly, he said he and Roy Gross, along with a juvenile, were responsible for the thefts at the Pentecostal church. He allegedly said he and Allison stole a .22 caliber handgun, two .44 caliber handguns and five laptop computers from a residence on East Club Deluxe Road.
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