Vandals Damage At Least 19 Air Conditioners In Newark Over Last Month
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork)-- Vandals have damaged at least 19 air conditioners in Newark over the past month, officials said.
Now business owners want to know who is behind creating some very sweaty and dangerous conditions, CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported.
The rash of bizarre thefts has left victims hot under the collar, literally. At the International Youth Organization on South 12th Street, they said a few weeks ago thieves disabled and stole parts from 6 large air conditioning units.
The organization, which works with troubled youth, is now sweating it out and trying to make do with fans during one of the hottest stretches of the year.
"They handicapped us from providing the services to the young people the way we usually do," International Youth Organization Co-Founder Carolyn Wallace said.
It's the same story at a Family Dollar store and a laundromat on South 10th Street where the fans are working overtime.
Employees said a few weeks ago, they too had their units vandalized.
"They took the motors out of the cases on the roof," laundromat employee Herman Phillips said.
A church a few blocks over was also hit.
"They took the copper pipes out of four units on the roof," said Freddy Harris of Allen AME Church.
In all four cases, the victims said the bandits got onto the rooftops and ripped out virtually all of the copper parts of the A/C units, and that it's no secret why.
"Copper is expensive. You're getting top dollar for copper nowadays," Harris said.
Some of the victims told CBS2 they are convinced this is the work of a professional crew who knew what they were doing.