Irrigation systems lure copper thieves

Copper is all around, from the wire taking electricity to light fixtures to the one-cent coins filling jars on a shelf. While the metal may seem abundant, growing scarcity on the world market is making it a target for thieves.

Just a little south of Cape Girardeau, in the flat, sandy soil of the Missouri Bootheel, thieves have found a lucrative source for the metal -- the enormous center-pivot irrigation systems that supply vital water to row crops. The irrigators must have electrical power to move across the fields.

The heavy-gauge, multistrand wire yields about a pound of copper for every three feet, law enforcement officers say. "If they are getting upwards of $4 a pound, do the math," said Sgt. Greg Ourth of the Scott County Sheriff's Department. "If thieves get a quarter-mile of wire in a night, put the math to it. They make a lot more than you and I make."

That quarter-mile of wire -- 1,320 feet -- would yield almost $1,800 in scrap value at $4 a pound. At the lower price of $2.50 a pound, quoted by a scrap dealer Monday morning, the value is almost $1,100.

Some area law enforcement agencies, frustrated by the growing problems of copper theft, are working to start a task force that will battle the thieves. One of the task force's most potent weapons may be a little-enforced state law directed at scrap dealers. The law, originally passed in 1971, requires scrap dealers to keep a detailed registry of every copper wire or cable purchase, listing who sold the metal -- including the name, address and driver's license number -- and the quantity and condition of the copper. The registry is supposed to be open for inspection by any police officer at "any reasonable time."

"To sell in this quantity and not be reported they have to have an outlet," Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said. "We need to identify all the junkyards and scrap yards that buy this material."

Local prosecutors in each county will be asked to send scrap dealers a letter asking them to keep the required records and providing them a copy of the law, said Lt. Ryan Holder of the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department. "Very few are keeping the names and addresses," Holder said. "We are not seeing that, and they aren't getting license numbers. Sometimes it is just basically a scribble on some of the tickets."

Failure to comply can result in a jail sentence and fine.

At Top Metal Recycling, 622 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, manager Joel Crutchley said his employees are told to watch out for potentially suspicious sellers of scrap, but he admitted that not every purchase is logged as state law requires.

"You can just tell by the way they come in," he said. "They come in and act suspicious, they are in a hurry. They may have it in their car and bury it under a bunch of blankets."

Regular customers, for example those who are known electricians, generally aren't questioned closely, Crutchley said. It is impossible, however, to know where any particular lot of scrap came from, Crutchley said. Even without a complete registry, he said, it is possible to create a paper trail. One method, he said, is that Top Metal will issue a check, not cash, to anyone bringing in a large quantity that is worth more than $100.

"Sometimes people bring in little bits at a time just so they don't get questioned too much," he said.

The market price for copper Monday stood at about $3.60 a pound. Crutchley said his company was paying between $2.15 and $2.50 a pound, depending on the quality and quantity being brought in for sale.

Most metal dealers are reputable, and several cases against thieves have been closed because of vigilance by scrap dealers, law enforcement authorities said. "We have found two or three that are not police-friendly," Ourth said. "They are the ones who have been doing the major purchases of copper and aluminum."

While aluminum is worth less -- aluminum cans, for example, are worth about $1 a pound -- thieves aren't neglecting it, sometimes taking it from the irrigator sprinkler heads and, at times, stealing it off the sides of homes.

In one Scott County case, Walter said, a thief was stealing from small scrap lots and was caught after his license plate number was recorded by the scrap dealer who was purchasing the material. "He was stealing a couple of hundred pounds from each one, thinking they would not notice," Walter said. "But a scrap yard in Cape Girardeau had the information, and we made the case on this guy."

Another method thieves are using is to identify an empty home. While one person goes into the attic, another disconnects electrical wires at the switch box, and the entire bundle is pulled up through the walls of the home.

Irrigation systems have become valuable targets because they are vulnerable in open fields, yield large amounts of copper and also provide a source of aluminum, which is used in the sprinkler heads.

In Scott County, Ourth said, a rash of theft reports came in earlier this year when farmers began annual maintenance before using their irrigators. The number of reports has slowed down greatly, Ourth said.

But further south, where irrigation is more prevalent, the thefts continue unabated. "We had two more reports this morning," said Lt. Ryan Holder of the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department.

The salvage value of the copper is about one-tenth the cost of repairs to the irrigators, Holder said, and the thieves like to make return visits. "There are some farmers here in our county that have been hit sometimes two or three times," he said.

The thefts aren't limited to Missouri, and Holder hopes to enlist the help of law enforcement in northern Arkansas and Western Kentucky to help. Even with the task force, Holder said, thefts are likely to continue. "We can't be everywhere at any given time," he said. "They are watching us as much as we are watching them."

The quick cash is a powerful draw, especially for drug addicts, he said. "We think about 90 percent of it is to get quick cash for someone to support their habit."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126