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Kind of reminds me of the rash of metal thefts in the '00s in Los Angeles. Thieves would steal wiring from power lines and most notoriously, an historic statue
by dhosek 6y ago
Kind of reminds me of the rash of metal thefts in the '00s in Los Angeles. Thieves would steal wiring from power lines and most notoriously, an historic statue in Carthay Circle was stolen, but later recovered from a scrap yard and the thieves identified and arrested. Only after metal prices came back down in 2008–2009 did the thefts stop.
https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/miner-statue-ba.html https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/miner-statue-...
- didntknowya 6y agostill happened in developing countries. people stealing metal parts from public utilities (fences, manhole covers, etc) to sell as scrap. and with it a few cases of deaths due to thieves trying to steal copper from power poles/boxes and getting electrocuted.
- analog31 6y agoI grew up in an area where thieves would go into an unoccupied house, and strip out the copper plumbing and wiring from the inside. It rendered the house practically unrepairable, and many such houses were abandoned.
- dhosek 6y agoSounds like Detroit. A lot of amazing homes were abandoned and then rendered unsalvageable.
- itronitron 6y agoThere is a funny scene in 'The Wire' where one of the local addicts realizes they can just steal the uninstalled copper tubing from houses that are in the process of being renovated/gentrified rather than stripping old plumbing out.
- Scoundreller 6y agoSometimes unscrupulous plumbers fixing a clog would cut out 6' or 8' chunks of 4" solid copper drain pipe in old houses and splice in PVC for some extra $$$.