Scrap metal theft has become increasingly problematic locally as thieves have begun snatching everything from copper utility cables to aluminum drainpipes and catalytic converters and selling them for profit.
In late August, Roseville police were left scratching their heads at an apparent rash of bathroom larcenies in which the culprit, dressed as a plumber, walked into at least four restaurant bathrooms, dismantled the urinals and stole the metal parts and pipes. Last year, Yolo County reported more than 80 incidents of theft related to various metals, and earlier this year a Truckee man was sentenced to three years in prison after pulling more than 4,000 feet of copper wire valued at $6,000 from a conduit at the Caltrans weigh station on Interstate 80.
“Over the past 12 months we’ve had more than 120 catalytic converters stolen, and that is very annoying. It costs vehicle owners about $1,000 to replace. And then our bathroom bandit … it’s getting very brazen,” says Dee Dee Gunther, public information officer for the Roseville Police Department. “We noticed a big upswing with the converters about a year ago, and copper wiring has been a problem for at least a couple years because there is so much construction going on here.”
With market prices trending upward, the thievery should come as little surprise. The market price for copper is staying comfortable between $3.50 and $4 per pound, up dramatically from its 75-cent average a decade ago, according to the New York Mercantile Exchange. And while aluminum is, on the whole, cheaper than copper, its price has held similar patterns and is currently cashing in at an average of $1.20 per pound, according to the NYME.
To combat one of the fastest-growing crimes in the state, two bills, Assembly Bill 844 and Senate Bill 691 are floating through the Capitol and would require junk dealers and recyclers to buckle down. Included in the bills is a requirement for scrap metal recyclers to obtain current identification, including thumbprints, from sellers and a photograph of the items sold. The bills also require the sellers to complete a form disclosing the origin of the materials. Also under the legislation, recyclers are required to report their transactions on a monthly basis to local law enforcement, and sellers must wait three days before being paid.
These bills follow the unanimous approval of Assembly Bill 2724 by the Assembly in May. The bill, among other things, makes scrap metal theft a grand theft if an individual steals more than $400 worth.
— C.S.
* Thsis tory was first published in the October issue of Comstock’s magazine. http://comstocksbusiness.com/
