Copper Thieves Strike Again

Mobile County Copper Theft Copper thieves strike Mobile County schools. More than $500000 in damage done to AC units.

by Jessica Taloney

Published: Thu, July 17, 2008 - 4:00 pm CST

Just as fast as the Mobile County School District replaces their air conditioning units, it seems thieves are tearing them up.

Copper thieves struck again Wednesday night, destroying units at Faulkner Technical School and Booker T. Washington Middle School. The thieves climbed on top of the schools' roofs and tore into the air conditioners, stripping them of their copper coils.

According to school officials, the street value of the stolen copper is only a few hundred dollars, but it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the damage.

"It's horrible because we just put these units on the roof probably 60 days ago," said Bobby Stringer, the maintenance supervisor for the Mobile County School District.

This was the second time Booker T. Washington was hit by copper thieves in the last two weeks, and W.D. Robbins Elementary School and Vigor High School have also been struck.

Mobile police arrested 47-year-old David Lamar Thomas for the theft at Booker T. Washington. Thomas is charged with burglary, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon. A police spokesman tells News Five they are looking into whether Thomas was involved in any of the other school copper thefts, but as of right now they do not know if they are connected.

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myopinion Says:

Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 9:42 pm

I agree! Why can’t the law enforcement find out who is actually purchasing the stolen copper. But, again, they are not ‘actually’ doing the crime….

BamaBob Says:

Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 5:36 pm

These dirty thieves need to be apprehended and forced to watch 80-year-old strippers until they are 80!

DEW26M Says:

Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 5:29 pm

!!!!CRACKHEADS STRIKE AGAIN!!!!
At this time I would like to thank the Mobile Police Department & Mobile County Sheriffs for being to scared to go in and bust all the KNOWN crack dealers in the wonderful City and County of MOBILE! Here’s an idea, erase all the Crack Dealers, and lower the crime rate by about 45-65%! Oh, no that would be way top easy!

BamaBob Says:

Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 5:09 pm

This is a terribly senseless crime! The law needs to go after those willing to buy pristine copper from shady looking characters. Kill the market and kill the crime. Or put high voltage fences around the equipment, or employ an experienced sniper and have him pick off anyone going near those AC units!