Copper case loss $150k
From our weekly issue dated June 18, 2008
Damage including theft of copper wire from three electrical transformers owned by rural Cave Junction resident Walt Freeman is estimated by him as amounting to at least $150,000.
The wire was from three transformers stored at Rough & Ready Lumber Co. The thieves illegally entered the property and made their way through a locked area.
Freeman said that besides the damage, the thieves took from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of copper.
The incident, reported by Freeman on Monday, June 9, is among several such cases reported recently to Josephine County Sheriff’s Office. In Merlin, thieves removed approximately 25 feet worth of copper wire, in 3-inch segments, from Central Oregon Pacific Railroad tracks.
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And earlier this year, crooks disabled the telephone lines at Oregon Caves National Monument by stealing copper wire. Josephine County Parks Dept. has reported some 40 brass faucets stolen recently.
Officials indicate that the thugs, likely drug addicts, take the wire to sell at metal recycling locations.
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