Thieves target copper,
other scrap metals
Surrounded by mounds of metal Bobby Benally, an employee at Recycle America in Gallup, sorts through scraps at the facility on Wednesday. With the price of some metals on the rise, especially copper, recycling centers like this one are being hit on a regular basis by thieves looking to cash in on the high prices. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Copper is being targeted by thieves for a variety of reasons, top among those however, is a way of getting money to fuel a drug habit, area law enforcement officers say.

Gallup Camper Sales and Mobile recycling owner George Pollack says he is not sure why he is being targeted, he only knows he is stolen from at one of his 12 recycling sites on an almost daily basis.

“I know why I am being robbed, the economy is down,” he said. He said he knows people need money but at the same time, he can’t find anyone that wants to work.

Recently, burglars broke into one of his 12 locations and stole a $20,000 truck.

“They just drove it through the fence on their way out,” he said.

Copper and other precious metals are bringing a higher price than ever before, although copper prices have recently trended downward, he said.

“We were paying $2 a pound or copper a month ago, now its $1.25 per pound,” he said.

China is the cause of the downward spiraling metals prices because there are fewer exports from the United States because of China, he said.

Copper thievery everywhere

In Milan, police recently caught a couple of burglars that stole copper from the local recycling center, Jerry Stephens, police chief said.

At the beginning of the year there were four copper thefts alone in a two week period, he said.

“I don’t want to speculate on why copper is being stolen other than people need money,” he said.

Grants Police Lt. Corey Allen said burglaries and thefts linked to copper have doubled, almost tripled, in the past year. Thieves are hitting vacant businesses, construction sites and recycling centers, he said.

Allen recently arrested a burglar in the process of stealing copper wiring from a vacant business in Grants.

Allen cautioned business owners to keep an eye on their vacant businesses. In some businesses there is copper tubing that weighs 2 to 3 pounds a foot.

He said a lot of these thefts are paying for individuals’ drug habit by getting money from the stolen copper in order to buy drugs.

Increasing problem

In Gallup, Deputy Police Chief John Allen said copper thefts are an increasing problem, mirroring Pollack’s comments.
Business owners who have vacant businesses need to be vigilant about keeping an eye on their property, he said.

“An experienced thief can take the copper from your business in 10 minutes,” he said. “These burglars can then sell it for scrap.”

Allen said copper related thefts, that he knows about, are up 100 percent in the past two years, but could not cite statistics because the department does not break out statistical information by metal thefts.

Cibola County Undersheriff Felix Saaveda said copper related thefts, especially in the Bluewater area, are up.

“We’ve had at least two, possibly three since the first of the year,” he said.

Burglars hit construction sites in the area while workers were away, he said.

McKinley County Sheriff Frank Gonzales did not return telephone calls seeking comments on copper thievery in the county.

Frustrated

Pollack said his frustration about being hit by burglars so often is off the scale.

“It is not just metals,” he said, “these burglars will take anything.”

He said he no longer buys tools, because when he buys tools, thieves will steal it and try to sell it back to him the next day.

“I once had a guy steal a bag of aluminum pop cans from me, walk around the block and try to sell it back to me,” he said.

“I don’t want to put bars and gates up, I don’t want to become a business that looks like that,” he said. “But, you drive downtown and see all these businesses and homes with bars on the windows and gates at the doors.”

His response, when asked if he thought Gallup was becoming a barricaded community to protect itself was, “I don’t know.”

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.