Free Republic

PENN VALLEY, Pa. – A rash of copper thefts in Montgomery county has residents on alert. They may not seem like your typical targets, but thieves in Montgomery County are looking for copper. Gutters and downspouts made of the precious metal are being stolen from people’s homes along the Main Line. Lower Merion Township Police have reported a significant increase in the thefts of copper downspouts and gutters being taken from homes throughout the area.

(WSBT) A South Bend man was hospitalized with severe burns after he suffered an electrical shock trying to steal copper from a underground power line. It happened on Sample Street, behind the old South Bend Lathe Building, where the man works. That's where crews are tearing down the old Studebaker Factory. Police say the man didn't know the lines were charged, and that's why he went ahead and tried to steal the wire. "The incidents of metal theft have really spiked in the last six to eight months," said David Mayne, spokesman for Indiana Michigan Power. "In the case, of...

Firefighters weren't sure what was causing the smoke rising from a former discount store in this Baltimore suburb. The place had been abandoned for years, the interior stripped to the walls. When they got inside July 2, they found only one thing burning: a 41-year-old man who became engulfed in flames and died after cutting through a high-voltage line. Sean Phelps became another ghastly casualty of what authorities say is a deadly national trend: copper wiring thefts. High copper prices in recent years have thieves breaking into power plants and abandoned factories to rip out the wiring. Vandals are even...