Copper Thief Caught In The Act In West Sac
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- A Sacramento man drove into a gated West Sacramento business overnight to steal copper, then drove through the gate to escape, but he was caught by police after having to ditch his truck.
An alert Nor-Cal Beverage forklift operator noticed the man, 33-year-old Comse Aldaco, stealing the copper on surveillance video and shut the gate the suspect drove in from, trapping him in, but he rammed through the gate to get out and punctured one of the truck's tires in the process when part of the gate got trapped under his truck.
Police say he then left the truck and was caught a few blocks away.
Employees say the gate was only open for about five minutes Thursday just before midnight when Aldaco drove in and headed straight to the back of the yard to some containers filled with scrap metal.
Nor-Cal has been targeted three times by metal thieves, Deary said.
"We're in the process of improving our security," he said. "We recognize there's some weaknesses so we're working on that. People are getting gutsy about what they have to do to steal, so it's pretty pathetic."
The company plans to hire additional security guards and put better technology in place, Deary said.
The business recovered the copper piping in the back of Aldaco's truck.
