Hollister
– San Benito County farms, construction sites and businesses are
seeing increased thefts of metals.
Hollister – San Benito County farms, construction sites and businesses are seeing increased thefts of metals.
Authorities believe drug users are committing the majority of the thefts to get quick cash from scrap metal recyclers. Thieves hack apart aluminum irrigation pipes on farms and steal spools of copper wiring from business storage and construction sites.
Last weekend, a spool containing 3,200 feet of copper electrical wiring, worth $5,000, was stolen from the Honda Powerhouse construction site on San Felipe Road, the Hollister Police Department reported.
D&D Construction project manager Dan Morales said the theft was not the first he has seen or heard about.
“I’ve heard there’s been problems around town,” Morales said. “It’s not just us.”
Despite additional lighting inside the building due to attempted break-ins, thieves were able to make off with the expensive insulated copper wiring.
“They burn the insulation off and sell it to the recyclers,” Morales said.
San Benito Foods on Hawkins Street also reported $4,500 worth of copper wiring stolen from one of its storage sheds in late February, police said.
The Pacific Gas and Electric storage yard on Santa Ana Road was hit for five 40-foot rolls of copper wiring in February, San Benito County Sheriff’s Office Det. Jeff Goodwin said.
Bob Puts, a PG&E security spokesman, said the company loses $1 million annually from the theft of copper wire from storage yards and substations.
B&R Farms has reported the theft of aluminum irrigation pipes several times in recent months, Goodwin said.
In January, deputies arrested four people on San Justo Road who were in possession of cut-up pieces of aluminum irrigation pipes, hacksaws and methamphetamine.
But thieves like copper because it weighs more and is worth more than aluminum, Goodwin said. Copper can fetch up to $2 per pound with some recyclers.
“With the price of metal, it’s one way to make money,” Goodwin said.
Metal theft has become a statewide problem, authorities said. Goodwin, San Benito County’s rural crime detective, attended a Central Coast Rural Crime Task Force meeting Tuesday in Santa Cruz to learn how to better work with scrap recyclers to intercept thieves of aluminum and copper. The regional partnership was established because stolen goods can often cross county lines.
Recyclers are required by state law to request valid identification when buying metals for scrap, but don’t always collect the information, Goodwin said.
“I’m in the education process with them right now,” he said.
In the past several weeks, Goodwin has checked in with several recyclers in San Benito County to make sure they are requesting the correct information. The suspicious activity Goodwin has found has turned out to either be legitimate, or untraceable if stolen, he said.
“If it’s already stripped, it’s hard to tell whose it is,” Goodwin said.
San Benito Recycling manager Raul Delreal said the company pays 30 cents per pound for aluminum and $1.20 per pound for copper.
Delreal said San Benito Recycling requests a valid driver’s license and takes down the license plate of the recycler’s vehicle.
“If they don’t have the information, we don’t take it,” Delreal said.
Goodwin said recyclers aren’t the only ones the sheriff’s office is trying to educate on metal theft.
“We’re trying to educate patrol officers on this,” Goodwin said. “We’re trying to educate the farmers and citizens.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
