Copper is high watch your Air Conditioner

If this hasn't happened in your area yet it will


Thieves target air conditioners
Copper is their gold mine


March 5, 2008

LAKEWOOD (KWGN) — Thieves in Lakewood are rendering outdoor air conditioning units useless. Police said while you may not need it now, you may want to check your cooling system and make sure it's still in tact.


Copper is what they're after. Three people were arrested Sunday night and charged in connection with a theft in the 900 block of Wadsworth Boulevard. Police said the suspects may be linked to other crimes and therefore, have not released their mug shots.

There have been at least 20 copper thefts in Lakewood so far this year, and of those officials say the three may be responsible for half of them.

The building engineer for 940 Wadsworth caught the thieves dismantling what used to be 2 of 3 air conditioning units sitting outside the south end of the office building. He called 911. "It's probably going to cost about $12,000 dollars to repair the damage. We had two units that were vandalized," said building engineer Josh Bean.

Police said they discovered 10 pounds of copper in the getaway car driven by a female.

Scrap metal, especially copper, has become very valuable selling for $3.75 a pound and officials said copper thefts are on the rise.

Lakewood police said the number of metal thefts this year is on pace to break last year's number. In all of 2007, there were 66 metal thefts.

Air conditioning units appear to be the target right now.

The folks at National Heating and Cooling across the street agree. "We've had several calls where people go up and turn on the air conditioning and doesn't work," said employee Jana Scardello.

Matter of fact, the company had a full flat bed of copper piping stolen from behind its building recently. Scardello said it was worth a couple of hundred dollars.

Police emphasized, the amount thieves get from copper thefts is not anywhere near the cost to repair the damage left behind.

They advised folks to check on their outdoor units to make sure they're still in tact.

Lakewood police were checking with other jurisdictions to see if the suspects may be connected to metal thefts there.