Residents unite to end thefts Copper thieves have cost property owners thousands in repairs
The Herald-Sun
Monday, October 22, 2007
BY BRIANNE DOPART bdopart@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
Stooped over a fistful of shredded wires Friday, community activist and real estate agent Ken Gasch could still see a silver lining in the missing copper.
Gasch, a real estate agent with Seagroves Reality, has had to deal with a couple of incidents of copper theft over the past few months. Wires ripped out of a house Gasch and his wife own on Carlton Avenue left it without electricity. And a copper coil ripped from a compressor on a home across the street that Gasch was working to sell left the buyer with a hefty repair bill.
"Who is the victim when this happens?" asked Gasch, while giving a reporter a tour of several houses that had been targeted along Carlton Avenue. "It's the community."
Soon to be part of that community is a young man named Dante Mandala, who decided to relocate from Oakland, Calif., to Durham and wanted to move into a community in which he could make a difference.
Mandala's bid on a Carlton Avenue home -- made through Gasch -- had been accepted and the contract under review when Gasch called to say the copper coil had been ripped from the compressor behind the house. Mandala had agreed to purchase the house "as is."
"It was a mixed bag," Mandala said of his reaction to the theft during a phone call from California. "It does make me a little nervous because that's a big expense -- to put in a new HVAC -- but I am determined to have a positive impact on this neighborhood."
Mandala has been working with Gasch, who he calls "an angel" and Preservation Durham on a solution to his loss, and says he looks forward to making the new home work.
"I'd rather someone steal copper than mug a senior citizen on their way home from the store," Mandala said.
Thieves can get a couple of dollars per pound of stolen copper, and copper thefts have been on the rise here and nationally as the value of the metal soars.
Home inspector Tony Alderman of Bob Rowley Home Inspections said he inspects about two homes a day and has seen some six or seven thefts locally over the past two months. He said some of the thefts appeared to have been committed by thieves using electric screw drivers who knew exactly what they were looking for. But, he said, one compressor appeared to have been beaten open with a bat.
Durham police were unable to supply numbers about recent metal thefts Friday, but said the thefts aren't occurring as frequently lately as they had been earlier.
In August, Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge attributed part of the city's 13 percent increase in burglaries this year to continued thefts of high-priced copper and other metals.
Despite the expensive ramifications of the thefts -- the loss of about $1,500 in copper can cost a property owner several thousand dollars more in damages caused -- Gasch said the metals theft issue has united local real estate agents and property managers with a local Partners Against Crime group.
Agents like Kim Griffin Jr. are getting involved in the community, calling their local legislators and talking about ways that folks in his position can protect the community by way of protecting their investments.
Griffin, of Griffin Associates Realtors, had enough when several of his properties were plundered by metals thieves.
Two homes he was renting out had copper coils ripped from compressor units within days of tenants moving out.
Still, Griffin said he hasn't adopted the practice of removing compressors from even temporarily vacant homes that other real estate agents and property managers have.
"They say that it's $200 [to remove the compressor] versus $4,000 to replace it," Griffin said.
While Griffin is upset about the thieves who've hit his properties, he said the issue goes way beyond him personally.
"It's more than that. A local church had its copper gutters stolen three times before they replaced them and had them painted [so they wouldn't look like copper]. And it's a safety issue."
Griffin's passion led him to call state Rep. Will Neumann, R-Gaston, to offer support for a Neumann-sponsored bill that increased the criminal penalty for metal theft and required individuals selling metals to present the buyer with a photo ID.
The bill was passed and signed into law this summer.
Griffin hopes it will hold the owners of businesses who buy metals to the same standard as pawn shop owners, who are responsible for providing police with information about sellers.
Some involved in local real estate are less optimistic.
Dick Patton Realty Co. owner Dick Patton has had several thefts at properties he manages, each costing between $1,200 and $2,500 for replacement compressors. As a result Patton has begun spending around $300 per property to install a metal cage around compressors to prevent thieves from getting to the metal inside.
One Patton client, a beauty shop owner, was busy doing hair one day when she noticed she was getting hot, Patton said. When someone went to check the compressor, the coil had been removed.
"It happened in the middle of the day," Patton said.
He said he doesn't think a law or further restrictions will keep people from committing the thefts.
"When it happens to our mayor or city council members, or when somebody gets shot trying to steal a coil -- that's when people will pay attention," Patton said.
For Gasch, tightening the penalty for stealing metals and restricting the ways in which they can be sold will help people like him and Mandala protect their investments.
"People used to tell me you are crazy to buy a house here," Gasch said, looking out over a neatly trimmed yard to several brightly painted Victorian houses near his own tri-gabled Victorian.
"Now we're here and one neighbor's baking me a sweet potato pie ... and another is bringing me bricks and trimming my hedges ... My wife and I are invested here and we want Dante to do well," Gasch said.
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