Copper Theft Turns Into Chase With Shots Fired

[USA1]

I left the house this morning and immediately noticed Police cars all over the place. As I passed the CVS down the street less than a mile away I could see a news truck parked in the parking lot and crime scene tape near the back of the store.
I could see what looked like power lines stretched out across the parking lot.

It turns out that there was an attempted copper theft just a few hours earlier.

Here's the story --> http://www.click2houston.com/news/29337087/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[fishman]

Traffic out out Tomball was really bad today. There were 9 police cars out there at 7:30 this morning. Score one for the good guys.

[E.Marquez]

Copper theft? So did anyone else when they read that think…" Copper theft? Can they charge them with theft when the officer was “giving” them those little copper coated nuggets at his own discretion? "

[USA1]

Copper theft? So did anyone else when they read that think…" Copper theft? Can they charge them with theft when the officer was “giving” them those little copper coated nuggets at his own discretion? "

[USA1]

Not too long ago at the Walgreens across the freeway, someone drove a truck through the front door and tied a chain around the ATM machine and took off...don't know if they were ever caught.

I moved out to Tomball to get away from some of the crime in Houston but it's slowly spreading this way.

[KinnyLee]

Not too long ago at the Walgreens across the freeway, someone drove a truck through the front door and tied a chain around the ATM machine and took off...don't know if they were ever caught.

I moved out to Tomball to get away from some of the crime in Houston but it's slowly spreading this way.

Yup. Wife's office was affected earlier this week. She works out in Katy. Thieves stoled copper from their plumbing. Needless to say, without water in the toilet is not pleasant.

[E.Marquez]

Count the days till some well meaning yet confused person in the state government proposes and or gets signed into a law, something covering this type of theft..

“ Sellers of copper to a Certified Texas Copper Recovery Station(CTCRS) must have a certificate issued by the state of authorized demolition, said certificate will be issued only after a State or State Certified contracted inspector has conducted an on sight inspection and completed in triplicate the Certificate of estimated savage to be recovered form.. Said form must be validated at the TDOR (Texas Department of Redundancy) both before and after demolition has taken place, and again the first Wednesday of the month following the demolition, but no less than three weeks prior to offering said copper scrap to a CTCRS. CTCRS can be identified by the Copper Texas Star required to be displayed on a pole no less than 9.34 feet in height as measured from the base of the pole (base as defined by the lowest portion of pole encased in mounting material, to include cement piling that is subsurface)"

[AEA]

Ain't that the norm!

[Keith B]

Metal theft is rampant. They are even stealing catalytic converters off of vehicles now for the precious metals in them. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/communit ... -worth.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/us/29converters.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. We had one of these thefts about 3 weeks ago in our office parking lot. Thieves rolled up with battery powered Saws-all and cut it right out from under a Honda element.

I had to replace one of my water heaters a couple of weeks ago. Had the old one in the back yard waiting for the one day a month when they do bulk pick-up. Sat it out by the curb in the alley on Tuesday morning. About 4 hours later I captured a truck on my security cam driving off with it, along with a bunch of other scrap metal from somewhere else. Truck was driving the alleys looking for scrap to take before the bulk waste trucks got to it. Personally, I don't care since it is gone, but it is illegal to do that.

[gigag04]

As of Sept the law now makes theft of any metal including copper a felony.

So...the value of a penny just went up...technically.

[USA1]

I just noticed they added video on the link... http://www.click2houston.com/news/29337087/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It was only a picture when I first posted.

[speedsix]

Metal theft is rampant. They are even stealing catalytic converters off of vehicles now for the precious metals in them. http://www.dallasnews.com/news/communit ... -worth.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/us/29converters.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. We had one of these thefts about 3 weeks ago in our office parking lot. Thieves rolled up with battery powered Saws-all and cut it right out from under a Honda element.

I had to replace one of my water heaters a couple of weeks ago. Had the old one in the back yard waiting for the one day a month when they do bulk pick-up. Sat it out by the curb in the alley on Tuesday morning. About 4 hours later I captured a truck on my security cam driving off with it, along with a bunch of other scrap metal from somewhere else. Truck was driving the alleys looking for scrap to take before the bulk waste trucks got to it. Personally, I don't care since it is gone, but it is illegal to do that.

...yep, a lot of cities have ordinances against picking anything up at the curb or in the alley...but "the junk man" has been both a tradition and a friend...I think the ordinances should be amended to require that no mess or scatter be left...but that once it's on the curb or the alley, control is relinquished by the owner...I've picked up enough good lumber and pipe to build a house in the last 30 years, and never once left a mess...and never once been challenged by anyone...I think it's one example of overregulation...

[e-bil]

Wonder if that's the same ones who have been hitting the Woodlands for brass and copper?

[The Annoyed Man]

Count the days till some well meaning yet confused person in the state government proposes and or gets signed into a law, something covering this type of theft..

“ Sellers of copper to a Certified Texas Copper Recovery Station(CTCRS) must have a certificate issued by the state of authorized demolition, said certificate will be issued only after a State or State Certified contracted inspector has conducted an on sight inspection and completed in triplicate the Certificate of estimated savage to be recovered form.. Said form must be validated at the TDORD (Texas Department of Redundancy Department) both before and after demolition has taken place, and again the first Wednesday of the month following the demolition, but no less than three weeks prior to offering said copper scrap to a CTCRS. CTCRS can be identified by the Copper Texas Star required to be displayed on a pole no less than 9.34 feet in height as measured from the base of the pole (base as defined by the lowest portion of pole encased in mounting material, to include cement piling that is subsurface)"

There, I fixed it for you.

[Beiruty]

See video here: http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Man-Made ... 37883.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;