ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Copper Theft Penalty

I heard about one in the county I live, someone broke into a substation tried to steal the copper ground line of the transformer and struck an arc off the transfromer. I not sure what happened to the person though.

Lineman came finally came by yesterday morning to repair the stolen transformer grounds on our back lane.

I talked to him as I was going out and he was saying that he has been busy splicing grounds for he last few weeks because of thefts.

Manitoba Hydro is now putting a 8 ft metal U chanel over the lower part of the repaired lines instead of the normal wood molding.

Are they bonding it at both ends

Just my opinion and a tad off topic,
But what ever happened to Neighbourhood Watch groups?
The idea that you don't even know your own neighbours says something about society these days, people are out for themselves, not the community good.
I am involved with Civil Defence over here and after the big snow of 2005, on a "sortie" around my area to see that everyone was OK, it was news to most that I was involved with CD and also that anyone actually gave a damn about them in the first place, even though they had no power or heating.
Community is still just that, community is made up of people, with needs.

Sorry to take this thread off topic.

Spoke to EC at one job that was destroyed about two months back. Due to the extent of the damages ($150K+) the 'genius' that was after the copper is facing major felony charges, and remains in jail.

There was a recent article within one of the trade mags re: this subject. I'll look for it later today/tonite.

Mike I am the neighborhood watch captain in my little community but the real problem with actually catching the bad guy is they tend to do their evil deeds at 4 to 5AM. The other problem is getting the cops interested in anything that doesn't involve sex, massive amounts of drugs or murder.
I had a car burglar cold, a video tape of the theft, pictures of both sides of the $2 bill he stole and where he spent it. The cops didn't do anything.
This guy was sweeping our neighborhood almost every night, stealing everything that wasn't locked up.
They finally arrested him when a home owner delivered him to them at gun point as a result of an "occupied home burglary". He did 3/4ths of a 90 day sentence. He is out now and we are all looking out for him.
The biggest fear for a criminal is that a homeowner takes the Florida "castle doctrine" seriously and drops the weasel on sight.

Article is in Nov 2008 EC&M mag. I'll check if it's on-line tonite, time permitting.

Greg: Yes, getting 'priority' LE for copper is not #1 on the list here either.

If your are asking about the U channel its not but then the wire does not run wild in it either as is stapled to the pole. The U arch has about a 2 inch air gap aroud the wire.

And as for law enforcement interest, they sure got interested here about a year ago when the new district polce station being built was stipped bare over a weekend.

I just wonder what an engineer would say about the choke they made with that metal sleeve.

No, It's true. I live in Spartanburg SC. Theres more to the story. Most if not all the copper was AC coils and plumbing pipe. Commercial and residential. The thief had been caught before and he was with his wife. She has been charged too. Both have criminal records.
The scrap yard where they were taking the copper is owned by a local county councilman.