Roofing Shingles A Hot Commodity For North Texas Thieves
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - The severe across North Texas this year has been expansive. Since the hailstorms in March countless roofs have been damaged and subsequently repaired... if crooks didn't walk away with the materials.
Thieves are taking advantage of roof repairs going on in Plano.
Officer David Tilley, with the Plano Police Department, explained that pallets of roofing shingles have been stolen right out of driveways and off front yards. "Since the first of the year we've had 74 reported shingle thefts from residences."
Tilley said you might not think that shingles would be a hot commodity -- but they apparently are. "Unfortunately in an area as large as what we have there's pretty much a market for anything out there," he said. "A large pallet full of shingles can easily value from $1600 to $2000."
Homeowners are often told to beware of shady roofing contractors, but few are prepared to 'stalk' their roofing materials until they're installed.
When it comes to police catching the crooks there's good news and bad news. Officer Tilley said, "We along with other agencies have been pretty successful in catching them [thieves] whenever we can identify that it's taking place. The problem is this is occurring over the entire city and were almost 72 square miles."
Police departments in Collin County are now asking homeowners to work with their roofers to figure out exactly when the work will be done and have the materials delivered on that day.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)