Metal Rustlers Target Storm Drains

[gateley]

RALEIGH, N.C. — Throughout the state, thieves have been taking storm drain covers made of metals that can net them $30 to $80 in quick cash.

“People are stealing anything with precious metals and having them recycled,” said Capt. J.L. Gerrell of the Clayton Police Department.

The problem has been visible in Wake County, with drain covers missing from various cities. The covers cost anywhere from $200 to $500 to replace.

Scrap steel, copper and other metals are in high demand for thieves. Getting metal from storm drain covers means wrestling with disks that weigh about 100 pounds each.

Gerrell said 17 storm drain covers have been taken in Clayton since the beginning of this month.

more -->> http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2900084/


People are getting DESPERATE -- and it's just the beginning. :(

[orleans]

1. maybe they should lock those suckers down

or call in the national guard (get them back from iraq and let them defend the homeland storm drain covers!)

[gateley]

6. They tried --

In Garner, the parking lot of the White Oak Shopping Center has lost two storm drain covers, which were stolen near the center’s movie theater last week. To help save the remaining four drain covers, authorities welded them to the frames in which they sit. Thieves still managed to take the drains, however.

[orleans]

11. jeez--i'd hate to be the car that drives over that pothole. n/t

[TheMadMonk]

2. This is not desperation. This is organised crime. nt.

[riverdeep]

3. We are becoming a third world nation faster than you can 'strategery'.

This is exactly the kind of thing that's happening in Africa right now. In South Africa, which is rapidly becoming a nightmare like Zimbabwe, rolling blackouts are getting more and more frequent because people are stealing the metal from power stations.

[alphafemale]

4. I'd bet 95% or better of these are stealing to get money for drugs.

Thieves disgust me. Especially thieves that steal from the community at large, not to mention creating public safety problems.

I also can't imagine why recyclers keep accepting such obviously stolen goods.

If recyclers would stop accepting things like storm drains and coils of copper from fools that have no way of having obtained such items legitimately, these kinds of thefts would be greatly curtailed.

[Vincardog]

5. I will bet that 95% went for people to feed their children. I do not know many junkies with the

Strength to lift 100 lbs.

[gateley]

7. Further in the article at the link

the story tells of a local recycler who alerts the police.

[gateley]

9. The thieves who stole from me upset me more than those

who are stealing drain covers from "the community at large".

They took everything I owned, including everything I had of my parents.

[vickitulsa]

8. "...getting" desperate?

Well, true -- it's a new condition for many. But for so many others, "desperate" was reached a long time ago.

Maybe now some are just getting ... "creative"!

Man, what a sucky world.

[thunder rising]

10. Watch the power lines ... they are next.

[depakid]

12. "it's just the beginning."

Indeed it is.

How many years will it be before people are digging through landfills?

[SoCalDem]

13. People are stealing USED FRYER OIL too

CNN did a story about it this past week..

desperate people will do whatever it takes to make money..legal or illegal

[unhappycamper]

14. Hell, there's folks out on military firing ranges stealing brass/bomb casings.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=14757

[tanyev]

15. Story on Dallas news last night about people stealing catalytic converters

off of vehicles, especially trucks and SUVs. It's easier to get under the tall vehicles and cut it off.

[DemoTex]

16. A local Catholic church had copper gutters and downspouts ripped-off (literally).

Maybe the perp is a latter day Robin Hood.