stealing copper wire

Stevens · #1 08-03-2011, 05:39 PM

In nearby Houma a guy broke into an electric company substation to steal some copper wire, he put his cutter on the wrong wire, and clipped. Workers found his "charred body" when they showed up to find the cause of resulting power failure.
I'm not going to repeat what went through my mind when I heard the report on the news a while ago.

By the way, Houma is the site of that infamous, wild wedding/riot video that was linked to on a post here a month or so ago.

Steve W.

SAFireman · #2 08-03-2011, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevens

In nearby Houma a guy broke into an electric company substation to steal some copper wire, he put his cutter on the wrong wire, and clipped. Workers found his "charred body" when they showed up to find the cause of resulting power failure.
I'm not going to repeat what went through my mind when I heard the report on the news a while ago.

By the way, Houma is the site of that infamous, wild wedding/riot video that was linked to on a post here a month or so ago.

Steve W.

I bet he won't do that again

Seems that you have another contender for the Darwin awards.

We have actually had 2 guys try the same thing (at different times, same sub-station)....they showed the first guy on the news when he got cooked, and it wasn't a few weeks before the 2nd guy got his (I think they might have been cousins).

wbraswell · #3 08-03-2011, 05:46 PM

I think if more copper thieves ended up this way, maybe they would find another line of work. I put them on the social ladder just above meth cooks.

Milton · #4 08-03-2011, 05:47 PM

Don't know about the copper but the food is great there! The company I worked for in the past had some lime kilns in the area that burned oyster shell.When I visited we were treated to the local restaurants for some great local food.Only place I remember seeing turtle soup on the special of the day board!

Ethang · #5 08-03-2011, 06:28 PM

Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes.

CAJUNLAWYER · #6 08-03-2011, 06:29 PM

Would you link me to the story that mentions this guy's name????? I may be able to close a couple of files.

Maximumbob54 · #7 08-03-2011, 06:30 PM

I don't like thieves.

NKJ nut · #8 08-03-2011, 06:32 PM

Copper thieves; now available in two flavors. Original and Extra Crispy.

Stevens · #9 08-03-2011, 06:56 PM

For Caje here's the link
HoumaToday.com | View topic - Man electrocuted killed while allegedly stealing copper wire
Steve W.

sheriffoconee · #10 08-03-2011, 07:30 PM

I guess finding out that line was hot came as a complete shock to him...

djohns6 · #11 08-03-2011, 08:28 PM

Just because it's a " ground wire " , doesn't mean it's not carrying current .

NKJ nut · #12 08-03-2011, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheriffoconee

I guess finding out that line was hot came as a complete shock to him...

The jolt was probably brief considering the volts.

Pete99004 · #13 08-03-2011, 09:21 PM

Finding that you clipped the wrong cable would sure make you hot under the collar.

OK Hog Shooter · #14 08-03-2011, 09:29 PM

You could say he was an overchiever who got caught up in his work and finally got burned out...

Frizzman · #15 08-03-2011, 10:07 PM

Some scumbag(s) stole a bunch of Rebar from the construction site for a new SPCA shelter being built in the area. Now, it will be longer before the poor creatures in that shelter will get a better facility. I hope the creep(s) gets attacked by a pack of rabid pitbulls...I hope the copper thief didn't get the chance to breed. His demise helps to improve the gene pool a bit...

cass · #16 08-03-2011, 10:23 PM

All thieves should end up the same way. I enjoy happy endings.

John F. · #17 08-03-2011, 10:45 PM

"She said her son left behind many people who loved him, including his three daughters..."

Where is the "roll-eyes" smiley when you really need it?

John

Gutpile Charlie · #18 08-04-2011, 12:19 AM

How ironic. I was with a group of friends this morning having coffee and was reading the Tulsa World. There was a story about a power outage because some *** clowns were stealing copper wire from a distribution station.

I just wish they had got fried like this clown.

I've got absolutely no pity for people like this.

Fry'm !

Trooperdan · #19 08-04-2011, 08:35 AM

The stupidity to me is they will cause $10,000 worth of damage to get $50 worth of copper!

GF · #20 08-04-2011, 08:43 AM

Trouble is that the family of the thief will sue (and win) a bunch of money 'cause the place wasn't safe to steal from.

" ... left behind many people who loved him, including his three daughters..."

It'd be for the children, ya' know.

GF

CW Spook · #21 08-04-2011, 08:53 AM

What a shame. He was just turning his life around...

mtgianni · #22 08-04-2011, 09:02 AM

They or their survivors will then sue the utility for not keeping their substations safe. You cannot win when dealing with fools.

pawncop · #23 08-04-2011, 09:17 AM

Caj,

I have to appreciate your committment and diligence to your clients. Always trying to be as efficient as you can.

For what it is worth, we are getting just plain torn up with copper thefts in the North Texas Area.

CAJUNLAWYER · #24 08-04-2011, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawncop

Caj,

I have to appreciate your committment and diligence to your clients. Always trying to be as efficient as you can.

For what it is worth, we are getting just plain torn up with copper thefts in the North Texas Area.

It's gotten pretty bad down here as well. They caught a couple of fellas by following the smoke. They had stolen a bunch of welding cable and were in the woods burning off the insulation. Eh...........job security I guess, but I agree, it's pretty depressing.

NFrameFred · #25 08-04-2011, 09:49 AM

Bottom line is these cretins would have no where to sell this stuff were it not for unscrupulous scrap dealers.

When an industry refuses to police itself it invites legislation from the more liberal among us who see that as the only way to save us from ourselves. And I doubt very few of these copper thieves get fried the first time they try this. The reason it finally gets them is like many other risky ventures, when one gets away with it once the assumption is it will always be that easy. Ooops . . . . . .

feralmerril · #26 08-04-2011, 10:50 AM

Several here have said that the family will sue the company. While there have no doubt been cases of that somewhere, it`s hard to belive they would win unless the thieves were kids and got through unlocked gates etc, right? Many years ago I heard of a thief falling through a bad roof of a house he was robbing, sued and I think, won. In a case like that they should have strung up him, his lawyer and all the jury!
Many years ago I heard a deal at lockheed when I worked there in the 60,s. Some contractors stold a liferaft out of a P-3 orion, took it home and opened it up. That automaticly turned on a locater signal radio beam, heard they found them pretty quick!
Look, it`s nothing new for a thief of any brand to tear up any amount of money to get a few dollars. Look at people ripping out plumbing in project house`s all the way to politicians voteing billions on projects to probley getting a few thousand kicked back to their re election fund or whatever.

hberttmank · #27 08-04-2011, 12:16 PM

I'll bet that idiot's favorite rock album was AC/DC - High Voltage.

Gary · #28 08-04-2011, 01:43 PM

Here in Houston they are stealing A/C units from apartment complexes.

haggis · #29 08-04-2011, 02:57 PM

SC now has laws requiring a license to sell scrap metal, to require any scrap metal dealer to report suspicious sales, to have positive picture ID to sell metals to dealers, and to have all payments by check, not cash. And they're starting to get some of these scum-bags.

This is a slight imposition on lawful folks, but when the *******s start stealing AC's from rural churches and cooling centers for the less privileged, something had to be done.

A special layer of Hell is reserved for these folks.

Buck

DeathGrip · #30 08-04-2011, 03:06 PM

On the news this week.Miami school missing copper wire used for lightning grounding.Could you imagine what could happen if it had been undetected?We are having thunder storms almost daily.

Best part of the story,They caught the 3 rock heads.

DCWilson · #31 08-04-2011, 03:27 PM

The job I retired from three years ago involved getting development entitlements in an urban area. We had one large furniture warehouse/showroom facility whose lessee declined to renew its lease and walked; we quickly found that Carmax was interested in the site. We got them approved for a new facility, but while the old one was vacant and awaiting demo, a copper crew got in one night with a 4x4, backed up to the service panel, chained it to a bumper, put the truck in compound low and idled away. Pulled every wire from every circuit as clean as you please. There's a lot of copper wiring in a 100,000 s.f. building. More than $50 worth, for sure. They got into a lot of the wet walls and pulled some copper pipe, too. Not as much because it wasn't as easy to get out. But they got a lot.

A couple of months later a guy was badly burned trying the same stunt in another vacant warehouse in an adjacent city. We figured it was a member of the same crew, but I'm not sure. It seems to me the "abandoned commodities" market may be big enough to support several crews in extended urban areas with populations of 10 million or so in a hundred mile radius. I'm just surprised that gunfights don't break out when two self-appointed salvage teams show up at the same place at 2:00 a.m. Maybe the industry is better regulated than I think it would be.

rocketdog · #32 08-04-2011, 03:32 PM

Poor guy had little resistance for current events.

Stevens · #33 08-04-2011, 05:03 PM

The local paper had some details today the guy was 34, white, with a drug habit, and arrest record as long as your arm.
His mother said she was sad but relieved, and said all his problems were brought on by his own bad choices, she seemed sensible. He had an accident on an oilfield work boat, sued and received $97,000.00 according to the mother he blew it all on Harleys, toys for friends, and drugs, everything was gone in three months.
C'est la vie!
Steve W

Gun-runner · #34 08-04-2011, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevens

In nearby Houma a guy broke into an electric company substation to steal some copper wire, he put his cutter on the wrong wire, and clipped. Workers found his "charred body" when they showed up to find the cause of resulting power failure.
I'm not going to repeat what went through my mind when I heard the report on the news a while ago.

By the way, Houma is the site of that infamous, wild wedding/riot video that was linked to on a post here a month or so ago.

Steve W.

This is just wrong!!! His family needs to get a lawyer and sue for wrongful death. If they would have marked which wires were o.k to cut by scumbag crackheads this would never had happened.

michael thornton · #35 08-04-2011, 06:54 PM

who said crime dont pay?

DOEBOY1 · #36 08-04-2011, 09:44 PM

I just sold some scrap yesterday for $3.60 I remember when I could only get .65 cent per pound and ws tickled to get it. Some of my fellow electricians before I got my license would give me their copper and I would burn it or strip it for them take it to the recycling center and split the money with them. Great for me great for them. Now that I have my own business I get my nephew to handle it. He brought me $222.74 yesterday and all I had to do was call him to get it. Doeboy

G-Mac · #37 08-04-2011, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cass

I enjoy happy endings.

Does your massage therapist charge extra for that?

Gutpile Charlie · #38 08-05-2011, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NFrameFred

Bottom line is these cretins would have no where to sell this stuff were it not for unscrupulous scrap dealers.

When an industry refuses to police itself it invites legislation from the more liberal among us who see that as the only way to save us from ourselves. And I doubt very few of these copper thieves get fried the first time they try this. The reason it finally gets them is like many other risky ventures, when one gets away with it once the assumption is it will always be that easy. Ooops . . . . . .

___________________________________________________

I suggest we hang the scrap dealers that buy this stuff. Only an idiot would not know where it came from.

Hang'm!

enfield · #39 08-05-2011, 08:00 AM

A fella cut the fence and broke into a substation here a couple of years ago. They had to scrape him off the transformer.

Copper thefts seem to have gone down in frequency, probably because nobody's built a house in the area in the last 2 years.

Grog · #40 08-05-2011, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enfield

Copper thefts seem to have gone down in frequency, probably because nobody's built a house in the area in the last 2 years.

Hmmmmmmmmm I don't remember seeing one house being built since I moved here in May 2010.

I do work in an old warehouse that has been hit a few times, the maintenance men finally started pulling the unused wires and have them piled up on the floor. I suggested setting them outside the fence to keep people from cutting it again

Damn Yankee · #41 08-05-2011, 11:45 AM

What kind of scrap yards buy this stolen copper? I thought you had to show identification when you sold it and then they would mail a check to you?

GTbob · #42 08-05-2011, 03:25 PM

I sold some copper scrap yesterday. It was old extension cords and household stuff like that. I got $1.55/LB. They gave me cash on the spot. They do record your license info and such.

357larry · #43 08-05-2011, 03:56 PM

The scumbags around my neck of the woods have been targeting churches, stealing the entire a/c units. One church had 2 units stolen. A parishoner who has a heating and air business replaced them pretty quick. The scumbags came back and stole the new ones in a couple of days.

ThirtyAcres · #44 08-05-2011, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTbob

I sold some copper scrap yesterday. It was old extension cords and household stuff like that. I got $1.55/LB. They gave me cash on the spot. They do record your license info and such.

Ditto.

Where I sell, on your first trip to the scrapyard they require an electronic thumbprint, a drivers license, and a picture of you standing next to what you sell. They also videotape the entire weighing-in process.

Also, they can not buy certain items..............................

Concrete aluminum forms
Phone wire
Street signs
Sewer lids (aluminum or steel)
Bridge railings
Any railroad property
Cemetery markers
New-construction steel
Water meters
Any guardrail or state property
Beer kegs
Soda cylinders
Gas cylinders
Grocery carts
Dock plates

I feel that painting ALL scrap dealers with the same brush is like painting ALL FFL's with the same brush.

Severely and swiftly punish the crooked dealers and quit inventing new regulations that only burden the honest ones.

mtgianni · #45 08-06-2011, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feralmerril

Several here have said that the family will sue the company. While there have no doubt been cases of that somewhere, it`s hard to belive they would win unless the thieves were kids and got through unlocked gates etc, right? Many years ago I heard of a thief falling through a bad roof of a house he was robbing, sued and I think, won. In a case like that they should have strung up him, his lawyer and all the jury!
Many years ago I heard a deal at lockheed when I worked there in the 60,s. Some contractors stold a liferaft out of a P-3 orion, took it home and opened it up. That automaticly turned on a locater signal radio beam, heard they found them pretty quick!
Look, it`s nothing new for a thief of any brand to tear up any amount of money to get a few dollars. Look at people ripping out plumbing in project house`s all the way to politicians voteing billions on projects to probley getting a few thousand kicked back to their re election fund or whatever.

Merril, they don't win the utilities settle out of court. [Utility worker for 30+ years]

feralmerril · #46 08-06-2011, 09:59 AM

Speaking of utility workers, way back when I lived in palmdale california, a guy was working in a man hole near my house. Some hero gang banger shot him in the head! They never found the shooter as far as I know.

Stevens · #47 08-06-2011, 10:15 AM

I don't want to give anybody ideas, but when I was travelling in Peru years ago people were stealing covers from the manholes in the streets. Talk about a pothole!
Steve W.