Thieves Steal Copper From S. Fla. Business A/C Units
The Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating after they said thieves stole and destroyed several copper air conditioning units from a Pompano Beach business.
According to Diana Lappanen from Storage Station Square, the robbers stole two storage units and stripped two other units after breaking into the business Thursday night. Lappanen said it is the second time since the business was targeted. The first robbery occurred last week.
"They took the guts," Leppanen said. "Look at our wiring, they cut it off, it's just done. It's just hacked right off."
The target is the copper tubing and wire.
"They removed all of the screws and then they take the coils,' she said. "These still have the condenser units in there, they left them for us. But I think they're getting more sophisticated and taking the rest of everything."
Copper is attractive to thieves because of its value. The current market price is up 43 percent and all indications are that it will continue to increase, CBS4's Ted Scouten.
"We've noticed an increase in our vacant properties," explained BSO Pompano Beach Sgt. Jeff Morse.
Police in South Florida said they are seeing more robberies as the value of copper goes up. Now the focus will be on recycling shops that cash in the copper.
"We're going to find out who your repeat scrapers are and we're going to conduct our investigations backwards, starting at the recycling centers," Sargeant Jeff Morse of the BSO said.
State law requires metal recycling shops to get identification and finger prints from people who are trying to trade in metal for cash.
