La polic\u00eda est\u00e1 tomando medidas en\u00e9rgicas contra una nueva tendencia de robo que deja a todos los vecindarios vulnerables.
Undercover detectives busted copper thieves in a La Jolla condominium complex July 25, resulting in one arrest. The local copper crooks left a devastating amount of damage pillaging area schools ” mainly in Point Loma and Ocean Beach ” but damage branched to areas such as Pacific Beach, University City and Old Town this past year.
“It makes us mad that it’s so easy to steal,” said Johnny LeRoy, of Old Town Recycling. “The best is wire from power lines, or the kind that comes out of walls is good, too. But now at least people put a lock on it.”
LeRoy and his wife run a recycling business in Old Town. Because copper thievery is a growing trend, targeting area schools and public utilities for its high payout ” mostly plumbing fixtures and electrical wiring ” police have asked recyclers like LeRoy to take precautionary measures, ensuring capture and arrest of criminals. LeRoy and his wife acquiesce, but said they are angry that people don’t protect the metal.
\u201cCuando vamos a restaurantes por aqu\u00ed, hemos visto cobre sentado sin nadie all\u00ed\u201d, dijo LeRoy. \u201cEntonces, si eres el ladr\u00f3n, \u00bfqu\u00e9 vas a hacer?\u201d
Aunque los ladrones de cobre fueron noticia como adictos a las drogas, LeRoy dijo que ha surgido una nueva raza.
“In the first wave, there used to be more people [selling stolen copper] addicted to drugs. And the second wave was to survive. Now, it’s mixed ” we have both,” LeRoy said. “It’s the new welfare of the people. It’s the easy way. They don’t have to apply for it.”
Whether because of welfare or drug addictions, San Diego was hit hard, costing the school district about $250,000, according to Lt. Rueben Littlejohn of the San Diego Unified School District Police Department. Littlejohn’s team of state police working for San Diego’s school district began investigating copper thievery about one year ago.
“We’re up to around 30 cases districtwide,” Littlejohn said.
Littlejohn said more than 30 schools were vandalized for their copper piping, wiring and other metals like brass backflow systems. According to police, thieves found that breaking into schools and stealing from public utilities was easier than breaking into cars.
“It’s not exclusive to schools,” Littlejohn said. “Big businesses in those same neighborhoods are victims too.”
Copper crooks entered onto area schools this past year, stealing hundreds of pounds of wiring and closing classes.
\u201cRecuperar el tiempo con los estudiantes despu\u00e9s del hecho no puede suceder\u201d, dijo Littlejohn. \u201cHay un inter\u00e9s general porque estamos aqu\u00ed para brindarles a los ni\u00f1os\u201d.
La polic\u00eda comenz\u00f3 a tomar medidas de precauci\u00f3n, colocando firmas como grabados en relieve en el cobre para seguirlo una vez que fuera robado. El Departamento de Polic\u00eda de San Diego, el Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de San Diego y el equipo de Littlejohn rastrean el cobre robado de escuelas p\u00fablicas o servicios p\u00fablicos, dijo.
“The thieves will take 200 or 300 pounds of the stuff at a time,” said a San Diego police detective working undercover on ongoing area copper cases. “They take it home that night and strip the wire into 18-inch lengths.”
According to the detective, the copper crooks take the stolen metal to a local recycler for about $1.85 per pound.
\u201cEs un trabajo muy duro porque mucha gente est\u00e1 haciendo lo incorrecto\u201d, dijo LeRoy.
Aunque la ley local exige que los recicladores registren los n\u00fameros de licencia de conducir y las placas, LeRoy dijo que no aceptar\u00e1 m\u00e1s de 25 libras de cobre a menos que el cliente sea due\u00f1o de una empresa de construcci\u00f3n.
\u201cCuando tengo la sensaci\u00f3n de que no es un tipo normal, me quedo con las cosas por un par de semanas\u201d, dijo LeRoy.
Politicians proposed new legislation to make selling metals like copper more difficult, the detective said, including a waiting period for checks issued. Police hope the bill gets passed, he said. Until that day, they count on legitimate recyclers to work with them.
According to police, after thieves sell copper to a recycling center, that recycling center sells to a larger nation that converts the metal back into a product.
\u201cLa mayor\u00eda de los productos reciclados se reciclan en China. El objetivo final es vender [los metales] a China\u201d, dijo el detective.
Copper prices change daily. Some of the biggest victims include public utility companies, including San Diego Gas & Electric, which is funding a Crimestoppers reward, police said.
Anyone who turns in a copper thief for prosecution will receive up to $2,000, police said. To report a copper theft, call (888) 580-TIPS.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Police are cracking down on a new trend in thievery that leaves every neighborhood vulnerable.Undercover detectives busted copper thieves in a La Jolla condominium complex July 25, resulting in one arrest. The local copper crooks left a devastating amount of damage pillaging area schools ” mainly in Point Loma and Ocean Beach ” but damage […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":264624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Copper thieves find schools easy marks","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}