Copper theft

[Trbl639]

I had 1 feeder that ran thru an old Papermil yard, that was being torn down........we had killed that feeder out and had it grounded, so they wouldn't get into it during the tear down...............I had maybe 15 or so customers on it, and I had them backfed off another feeder........I get a call about midnight, that I got a feeder out.......I do some riding/looking, and decide, I bet i got a phase of the 4/0cu down in the bottoms. feeding these 15 customers, I do some switching, and gwet all but those 15 on.......ok, they are thru tearing the mill down, so i'll get that feeder back to normal.....bad idea........the thieves had stole about 3000 feet of the 3phase 4/0 cu!!!! cut the poles down with a chainsaw and the rest dominoed, from 1 vertical corner to another........it was inside the mill yard, and was off in the woods, so they did it where they couldn't be seen........

Luckily they got caught!!! seems as though they left a pair of 18" bolt cutters and a flashlight..with their names on it....and fingerprints!!!!!!

I think they got jail time and had to pay about $20k restitution......and bet we'll never see a penny of it!!!

[BigClive]

I just noticed a substation in the centre of Glasgow which appears to be "maintained" by Siemens has just had an electric fence put round it.

For more effect they could just feed the fence off the primary.

[IN THE SHADOWS]

I just noticed a substation in the centre of Glasgow which appears to be "maintained" by Siemens has just had an electric fence put round it.

For more effect they could just feed the fence off the primary.

Clyde ...ya gotta quit washing down that haggus with cutty sark...try some Islay single malt instead.....It 'll make ya less ornery

[LINETRASH]

I was advised that an enviormental contractor used his card to enter a FPL yard, as usual.

Problem is, he proceded to put on his PPE, grab a forklift, load several reels of copper,(maybe over time) with other quantities of rolled copper into his inviro truck.

I guess he was in the habit to do this, nut missing material finally caught up with him.

Dumb move to get your felony recorded on yard cameras for all to see.......

[grizzlybuck]

Month or so ago here in Columbus, we had thieves cut down a 50/2 with a bank of 167's on it. The bank was deenergized (vacant building) on a deadend pole, the theives had been systematically removing stuff from the building and apparently figured since the electric was out the line was out. OOPs, they cut the pole down with a sawzall, used a chisel and hammer to keep the blade from binding, I know this because I assume when the pole came down and the ball of fire locked out the circuit, these bozos left the hammer, chisel, sawzall battery and skeedadled without getting the leg wire One hell of a mess cleaning up three 167's worth of oil though.

[wormy]

Here in WV, guy cut through substation fence down in coal country. When he got in he tried to cut some copper. Showed him burning on TV. There were 2 guys other guy called this kids dad. Dad showed up and tried to get kid off, 2 burning bodies

[LinemanRocker]

Here in Gary, Indiana, the thieves started out stealing the little bit of copper wire out of weatherheads on abandoned houses. After that started getting scarce they moved on to the weatherheads that were still energized, started small with 3awg then moved up to the businesses with 500mcm. We found one weatherhead to an apartment building down on an outage with the electic saw welded to the pipe. Then they started breaking into URD transformers in abandoned areas. As of lately, they've been cutting open wire secondary down in spots so as not to cause any outtages, though in some attempts, jerking of the lines blew some tap fuses and damaged one OH tub. We haven't really had any substation problems. The worst, or best depending on how you look at it, couple copper theft problems were where they cut our tub poles down. The 1st one was a deadend circuit bank pole (100KV tubs) they cut down with a chainsaw. Must've scared them away because all of the mess was still there for us to clean up. The most recent one though, they chopped down with a hatchet (must've took some time). It blew the single phase tap, but this time they got away with all the guts of a 75kv tub.

[LinemanRocker]

Oh, and we just had a superviser fired for having some apprentices load up copper reels and haul them to the scrap yard. What an idiot!

[Squizzy]

Our fault group a couple of years ago go called to a Water Corporation pumping station with a no power and a leaking transformer. The T-off line had been cut down with a chainsaw after the Drop Out Fuses had been pulled and everything was gone including the poles,cables nuts and bolts only thing left was a leaking transformer on the ground....

[RadonHuffer]

Loud mouth know it all, I am happy I am out of there!

http://www.mlive.com/saginawnews/new...faces_cha.html



Former city employee faces charges he stole copper wire
by Dean Bohn | The Saginaw News
Thursday July 03, 2008, 7:46 AM
Saginaw officials fired an employee who was a month shy of logging 30 years of service with the city, due to retire shortly after turning 50 in October, on suspicion he committed a crime while on duty.
City officials also are pondering if Jerry A. Gomez, who was a traffic electrician, will receive any of his benefits after his June 20 firing.

Saginaw County District Court records show Judge Terry L. Clark last month arraigned Gomez of Saginaw Township on a charge of malicious destruction of utilities and receiving and concealing stolen property, copper wire, worth less than $20,000 -- on June 8.

Gomez has a preliminary hearing at 3:45 p.m. Monday, July 21, before Clark.
A conviction could lead to a sentence of up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

"A sub-contracting crew for Consumers (Energy) was clearing bad wire from trees and broken branches after the (June 6-7) storm that went through Saginaw, throwing the bad wire on the ground," a city official said. "They noticed a city employee in a city truck following them around all day, picking up the copper wire. They grew suspicious and reported it."

The city called Gomez in that Saturday to work overtime.

"It was discovered that he never turned in any wire to the city or to Rifkin (Scrap Metal & Iron Co., 1445 N. Niagara) on behalf of the city, and when investigators went out to his home, they found several rolls of copper at his residence," the city official said. "It is believed he was turning the wire in for personal profit."

Gomez began working for the city on Aug. 2, 1978.