Posted on 07/08/2008 3:01:55 PM PDT by OrangeDaisy
Although a new state law is making it harder to sell illegally obtained scrap metal, a cell phone tower at Tracy City that was pulled down apparently to get copper indicates how far thieves will go to get what recently has become a "precious" material.
The incident occurred late Friday or early Saturday when guy wires were cut to get a DTC Wireless tower to fall in an apparent effort to get copper wiring, according to Ricky Gibbs, DTC cellular and marketing manager.
The tower is owned by Wireless Properties and is leased by DTC Wireless.
Gibbs summed up his thoughts.
"This is a major event that was out of our control, however, we are working as rapidly as possible to restore temporary service to a tower owned by Sequatchie Valley Electric Cooperative.
"We appreciate SVEC allowing us to use their tower during the interim."
Rene Wilson, DTC marketing coordinator, said the 360-foot tower remained down in a wooded area this week with service not expected to be fully restored in another two weeks.
"We’ve been working on it day and night," she said. "We want to get service fully restored as soon as possible."
Wilson said authorities are investigating but had not confirmed that the incident had occurred to get scrap metal.
However, Gibbs said it was likely.
David Cleveland, who is in charge of sales and purchasing at CFC Recycling near Tullahoma, said scrap metal prices are at an all-time high.
Copper is now selling at slightly more than $3 per pound, he said, adding that stolen scrap metal has been escalating during the past year.
Cleveland said a weak dollar value overseas has increased scrap metal demand because foreign markets can buy more U.S. products at a cheaper rate than ever before.
He said the process has driven prices up worldwide, and they are bound to remain.
In addition to scrap copper, heating and air conditioning unit coils made from copper and aluminum and automobile catalytic converters that contain platinum are hot items highly targeted by thieves, Cleveland said.
Thefts involving those products have been on the rise since prices have increased, he said.
Although scrap metal prices have greatly escalated, the Tennessee Legislature has taken counter measures, passing a new law that went into effect July 1 that covers all ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
Those who save their aluminum cans to recycle are excluded from the act.
The law requires that the scrap metal seller must prove ownership with a receipt or some other verifiable means.
Sellers will also have to have their identifications verified.
Cleveland said scrap dealers face the greatest burden in dealing with the law due to the additional requirements, including registering with the state by Oct. 1 and renewing every two years.
Any would-be dealer convicted for violating the new law or anyone with theft, burglary or vandalism convictions related to scrap metal transactions is barred from registering with the state within five years from the conviction date.
In addition to determining the seller’s identity, the dealer will have to keep detailed transaction records, including name, sex, height, birth date, address, license plate number and vehicle make and model numbers. With commercial vehicles, the business or leasing company name is required.
Other requirements involve recording seller’s right thumbprints and transaction dollar amounts.
The records will have to be maintained three years and be open to police inspection at any time without warrant or subpoena. Subpoenas and warrants may be executed at any time to inspect purchased materials.
Dealers are authorized to charge $5 per transaction to maintain the records.
The new law also includes materials that dealers may not buy under any circumstances, beginning with anything marked as belonging to telephone or utility companies.
Also on the list are manhole and water meter covers, streetlights, guardrails, traffic lights, street signs and beer kegs.
The law also provides complex rules about how sellers may be paid.
Cleveland said a five-day waiting period in some cases is required to ensure transactions are legal.
He said most scrap metal sellers are involved in legal transactions and don’t mind the wait.
I travel to work fairly early, usually before 6am. Last fall, when it's dark till probably 7, I saw a guy with a POS truck that had a piece of perfectly good guardrail in it from the side of the road...and a cop behind him. Truck was still there on my way home. His mistake was doing it on an interstate. There's plenty on back roads that aren't really traveled tween 1 and 5.
IIRC, some of the first New Orleans residents to return after Katrina were the copper thieves. One of 'em was shot dead by a cop who thought the guy had a pistol stuffed in his pants. Turns out it was a *hacksaw* handle that was protruding from the idiot's belt. Good shootin', officer.
The most outrageous metal theft to date, though, has to be where all the aluminum bleachers were swiped from a schoolyard or park (can't recall the location).
Some wag proposed him for the Darwin Award.
Locally, we had a nitwit open a cabinet-type transformer doo-hickey and actual cut a portion of the wire out, before it fried his dumb ass and killed power for some 500 customers.
The news reports are full of these idiots.
I was stupid in my younger days, but obviously not that stupid, as I've made it to my older days.
I think there are organized rings of thieves for the big projects like the bleachers or perhaps the cell tower, but the key to lowering the rate is to pursue the crooked dealers.
There are more and more of these incidents. I think it is the company we are forced to keep because of a porous border. We'll have a Nation in Mexico's image. Not a pretty thing.
I don’t think it’s all Mexico’s fault. There are greedy fools everywhere, be they Hispanic, Anglo, black, or Asian. All they see is quick cash.
I'm 58 years old. I never saw this sort of thing until now. The Mexican invasion is the only real change in demographics in that entire period. The invasion peaked in the last ten years, just like these events.
Yes, but ten years ago, commodity prices were much lower, and the temptation to steal was lower.
We need a test. Let us deport them all, and see what happens.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.