Thieves are everywhere...

[Native_NM]

I have been storing build material at the company yard for the last 18 months.  I built a small raised frame to store lumber which I kept covered with good tarps.  My plan was to build the basic 16x24 at the yard and transport on the flatbed that hauls the big front loader.  Over the summer we had numerous cases of metal theft.  They destroyed our big HVAC for the copper coils, ripped the wire from the temporary power poles, and pretty much swiped everything not welded down.  The yard was fenced all the way around, and we had six cameras covering the place.  I would monitor the yard from the house as well.  If it was metal, they swiped it.  Our company yard is in an industrial area of town with little residential development.  As soon as the sun starts falling, it is open season.  The police have pretty much been useless and the local task force commander admitted they simply didn't have the resources to deal with the problem.   

Until two weeks ago, the lumber was left alone; somebody drove up at dusk with a flatbed and loaded it up.  There were two guys and they were there for 8 minutes.  I recognized the truck and trailer as I had seen it driving through the open area over the summer.  All the cameras did was allow me to know when it happened.  We couldn't see their faces or even get a plate.  The lumber was not really a concern so I wasn't really monitoring it.   They were fast and efficient.  If they worked that hard at a real job they would probably get rich.  Most of it was 2x6 as well as the 2x10 and 2x12 for the frame.

Total loss of lumber was $3500+, and even if I could file a claim our deductible for "commodity theft damage" is $25,000.  The big insurance companies are getting hammered by not just wire and metal theft but every building material.  When we renewed our policy last year I remember our broker saying that our deductible for metal theft damage was going up to keep our total premium down.  The HVAC unit was $10,000 and the other losses were maybe $5K.  I'm still way under the deductible. 

She had some serious horror stories.  Thieves stole every other stud on an unfinished apartment building.  They carted off dozens of trusses at a commercial site.  They broke into a vacant building and gutted the building over a week of every piece of wire, switch, light fixture, as well as all the interior lumber and steel framing.  The camera across the street watched them pull up every evening and place signs and temporary lighting.  The police actually talked to them one night and they said they were a construction crew.  Because there were so many and they were so brazen they were left alone.  They hauled everything off on flatbed trailers and in their two vans.  Amazing. 

I talked with her last week and she was saying the market for stolen lumber is going to get worse after Hurricane Sandy.  Bummed is a good word.  Just bummed.

[Danfish]

Sorry to hear of your loss, but I am afraid no one can avoid being touched by this growing problem.  In our area the crooks have now figured fisherman are an easy target.  Last week six boats were stolen.  One belonged to guide I know and it was moored right in his backyard.  Found on a stolen trailer stripped to the bare hull.  Up north in Steelhead country they are raiding the camps at night and taking anything left out.

[OlJarhead]

I'm sorry to hear this!  Very alarming.

[Native_NM]

We had a trailer stolen also. My neighbors has a conex box - the whole box - stolen last year. 

The police think a lot of the theft is by guys that have jobs and access to the equipment.  You don't just move a conex box.  Once you have it you can carve it into pieces quickly.   They weigh  5000# empty and are worth a few hundred in scrap. 

I was reading about car thefts where they don't even steal the car to use it - they strip the outside sheet metal and the engine block.   An older truck can be worth $500 in scrap. The new vehicles have vin numbers stamped in plenty of places and use lighter steel.  They strip it and then torch the vehicle or just abandon it in a field.

The wire theft is a bigger problem.  They pull entire runs of wire from the street or factories.  The wire is worth a few hundred but the damage is thousands. 

[Tickhill]

Sorry to hear about your loss, looks like the redistribution of wealth has hit the streets in force, you know they have a mandate for that. 

[waterbug]

Sorry to hear about your materials being stolen. A conex box, even just a 20' one,  would be a big job to move. They had to have some tools/equipment to steal that.

The latest thing we are seeing around Houston is the theft of brass & copper valves/piping for commercial sprinklers and copper wire. There have been 2 people that suffered fatal burns in the last 3 weeks stealing copper. One of them was stealing wiring out of a vacant building and the  other was attempting to steal copper from a power substation. The power company estimates that $100 worth of stolen wire can cost up to $5,000 to repair. I'm afraid it is going to get worse before it gets better.

[Native_NM]

Exactly.  Nobody just moves a conex box unless they have the right truck. 

[hpinson]

That is a discouraging loss.

Have you considered guard dogs? I noticed that a siding company downtown has two. Their compound is fenced, I don't know if yours is. 

[Native_NM]

Dogs, cameras and motion lights are all pretty worthless.   Our neighbor hired a security guard and still got hit.

They cut our fence in seconds.   They have cordless grinders that make short work of chain.  They also just hook a chain up to the fence and pull it down.

It's discouraging. 

[peternap]

Dogs, cameras and motion lights are all pretty worthless.   Our neighbor hired a security guard and still got hit.

They cut our fence in seconds.   They have cordless grinders that make short work of chain.  They also just hook a chain up to the fence and pull it down.

It's discouraging.

This might help

[Native_NM]

    But I would end up in prison.  The thief will end up in the ER, and my property taxes will cover that also.

[Don_P]

Unfortunately traps and booby traps have a bad habit of getting the wrong prey.
Dad's truck got hit in the Lowe's parking lot, they cleaned him out, saws, guns, hand tools, even the homemade chopsaw bench. All on video but they have not been able to catch them. The theft put a crew of volunteer retirees out of business. Dad and his buddies have gotten merchants to donate materials, churches and public employees give them names of folks who are falling through the cracks and they go fix up some really sad situations.  I've been collecting my duplicate tools and going to buy a paslode cordless tomorrow. I'd like to think thieves will have to answer one day.

[peternap]

  But I would end up in prison.  The thief will end up in the ER, and my property taxes will cover that also.

I wasn't serious although it would be nice if you could get away with it!

[sparks]

  I ripped off a few things in my youth.....karma and payback can be a real bitch.....


AHEM...cough....cough

  Thieves are also quite resourceful...........


A co-worker related a story to me about how he witnessed the transport of a 40 foot light pole some time back. It happened in the North hood in Baltimore.

Yeah, a 40 foot aluminum light pole. The perps swiped it from the DOT storage area, then propped it up with a shopping cart on the front and one on the rear....cruising down the street making all kinds of racket and then had to make a turn around the corner like a ladder truck from the fire station.

And no one did or said anything about it!

And my co-worker didn't get one red cent for keeping his mouth shut!


sparks

[Tickhill]

Finally!

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/11/19/rancho-cordova-businesses-could-send-shocking-message-to-criminals/

I assume the warning signs will need to be politically correct with at least 10 different translations and appropriate graphics for thieves that can't read.

[MikeC]

Locking the place up isn't good enough anymore -

seen on craigslist:

WANTED INFORMATION ON STOLEN CABIN
On or about Friday September 14, 2012, someone stole this Log Cabin off of Rocky George Rd, near Newport WA and HWY 211. If anyone has any information regarding this cabin or witnessed the cabin being hauled down the road or if you have purchased this cabin without knowing that it was stolen please contact Kaleb at 509-481-7008 or Erin at 208-659-3986 with Confidential Investigations office 208-762-5767 or 509-624-2959. Compensation for good information can be discussed.

http://spokane.craigslist.org/spo/3359598532.html