Posted on 06/22/2018 1:27:34 PM PDT by Gamecock
A man was killed early Thursday morning in east Oklahoma City after being electrocuted while attempting to steal copper wire from a light pole, according to KWTV. The spike in copper prices in recent years has driven well known black market for the metal.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported that over a three year period there were 28,000 claims for theft of industrial metals -- 98% of which was copper. The trend has been attributed to copper's ease of access, as it is often unguarded in industrial air conditioning units, open construction sites, abandoned properties and public power utilities.
The NICB added that while there was a reported decline in these claims following a decline in copper prices and a nationwide effort to enact laws to combat this black market, prices have climbed back up, and the U.S. Department of Energy still estimates copper thieves are netting over $1 billion annually.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, copper theft in Oklahoma is a felony for both thieves and recipients who knowingly purchase stolen materials, with one to five year prison sentences and $100 to $500 fines.
Research published in the American Economist noted that the impact of copper theft from public utilities can have massive impacts on the general public: in May 2015, the theft of 500 feet of copper disrupted rail service on a New York City train line serving 775,000 riders daily.
Except the pennies have to be made before 1982....
Darwin Winner First Class.
Was it the Tom Russell song: There's A Mexican Dead On A Powerline?
Yes, it was! But if we played it today, we would be truly deplorable, maybe even Nazis. Notice how I cleaned it up?
Actually, I misremembered the lyrics. Thanks for help with the artist. It’s not really as bad as I remembered.
https://genius.com/Tom-russell-stealing-electricity-lyrics
The Range out of McKinney used to play it.
Some wire appears to be copper, but it’s really copper clad steel wire. Probably would get steel prices for it since the copper is not much more than a coating.
More power to these thieves.
Someone should write “Stealing Copper Wire for Dummies.”
<<>>
That would GENERATE some interest.
““copper pennies have been mostly zinc (97.5%) since 1983”
I have about 5,000 pre 1983 pennies that I completely forgot about from my childhood that were left behind at dear old Mom’s house. I just rediscovered them. Copper weight value is over $1000. Unless the Gov. stops pressing Pennies it’s illegal to melt them down. No doubt that isn’t stopping some people from doin just that.
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