Holy Crap.. My Local Lowe's was hit! Copper Theft!

**sledge** · 07-21-2014, 02:11 PM

Went to Lowe's Today to get materials for my jobsite.. One of the guys in Lumber says "You like our new skylight in aisle 14?" He said someone had cut a hole in the roof last night.. dropped down like some mission impossible thing and swiped a whole bunch of materials! I thought he was kidding me-- until I saw the hole in the roof!! From what I saw they emptied all of the 12-2 wire on the skid (but left 12-3) and there wasn't a stick of copper left in the store!

This is insane! Who in the heck would cut a hole in a roof of a big box store to swipe stuff? I'm seriously dumbfounded!!

**wadarbr549** · 07-21-2014, 02:22 PM

in my area the lowes store has all of the brass valves, and fittings,copper pipe & line, wiring and extension cords in one section....there is a worker who is there monitoring it at all times...and the biggest part of the items are locked up..the day time manager is my cousin and he told me .people were going in and loading buggies full of the stuff up and running out the doors...even if alarms went off at the door they just kept on going..

the worst thing about it is that even if they get caught, it is just a slap on the wrist..in the state of ohio .as long as you do not steal over 1000 dollars worth of merchandise it is only a misdemenor charge..no matter how many times you get caught...they realy need to change some of those laws up a bit..in the end it costs me and you a small fortune in raised prices

**sledge** · 07-21-2014, 03:24 PM

I worked in Retail for about 5 years over the course of my life.. I had seen the "Load and Dash" many times.. But think of this: This was after store hours. Some group of people (Had to be more than 1 guy) Got onto the roof of this building.. Used a metal cut saw or Sawzall and cut what appeared to be about a 6' x 6' hole right through the dang roof. They got down onto the pallet racking and somehow back down to the ground to get these materials- then up and out. I saw that they had started one cut and it was about 2 aisles over- in lamps/lighting.. and must have thought "Oh gee.. wrong aisle" and then proceeded to make the cut where they did- right over the electrical aisle.

I didn't even think to look in the Brass Aisle.. Just took a quick look because it appears it was a fresh scene.. so I didn't want to be "rubbernecking" too much. I wanted to take a pic of the beautiful Blue Sky above.. and thought twice about doing that. I'm certain I was standing at the end of the aisle with my mouth hanging open pretty wide!

They JUST passed a law here that anything over $750 is now a Felony.. Just from a quick glance- these guys are well into Felony Territory!

**hobo finds** · 07-21-2014, 03:35 PM

Got some ballls. My Lowes people are restocking all through the night! No way in hell are they going to get away with it.

**sledge** · 07-21-2014, 03:46 PM

Someone had to know that store virtually inside and out.. had to know routines, schedules.. Quite possible because it was a Sunday night? Store closes early? Maybe stocking is started early and finished early? I'm not sure.. but balllls indeed!

**pawpaw** · 07-21-2014, 06:29 PM

i use to do cable work done a lot of home depots we put camras all over those stores dont know bout lowes

**scrapfever313** · 07-21-2014, 07:12 PM

Scrap ninja's.. good ol detroit style there lol im just wondering what they used maybe a battery operated winch, a 14" quicky saw, ropes and yes at least 3 people. Dont they have motion sensor alarms inside? Guess not lol but why not hit a pawn shop or a bestbuy and get BIG $$$. A stack of new iPads would pay good im sure lol

**MattyNoNeck** · 07-22-2014, 09:39 AM

Quite possibly an inside job

And electronics will have serial numbers and will be able to be tracked when sold

Copper and scrap metal? As long as you go to a few different yards with different vehicles and different people, it'll all get lost in the shuffle...

**AuburnEwaste** · 07-22-2014, 10:19 AM

What many people do not realize is that stores like this do not have cameras to catch shoplifters, they have them to catch employee theft. The majority of the cameras you see in retail stores will only work with sufficient light. Any kind of moderate darkness(even a poorly lit corner) renders them useless. These companies don't pay for the night vision ones because they are not expecting people to steal at night.

**Mechanic688** · 07-22-2014, 11:12 AM

Even my cheapie camera I used in my retail store had an infrared eye built in that would "see" in the dark after I shut the lights off. If there was any light at all coming in under the closed door it would use it to lighten the room. Make it look like daylight on the tape. The police said it was one of the better recordings they had seen for facial recognition.

**sledge** · 07-22-2014, 01:57 PM

I have an update.. Apparently they did hit all the brass. Every Stick of Copper and as much Copper wire they could get out. Also heard through the grapevine that they sprayed whatever cameras were near them with paint. This was like a diamond heist. I'm inclined to think that they won't be scrapping this stuff- but bid a job.. utilize all the materials and make hella profit.. Fittings and wire are commodity items.. once they are installed- they would never be likely to be traced back.. once you open a roll of 12-2 without a store label on it-- it looks like every other roll of 12-2 by the same maker anywhere in the U.S.

I'm just still blown away that someone went to all this trouble and risk to dishonestly enrich themselves.. Makes me want to puke!

**MattyNoNeck** · 07-22-2014, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by sledge

I have an update.. Apparently they did hit all the brass. Every Stick of Copper and as much Copper wire they could get out. Also heard through the grapevine that they sprayed whatever cameras were near them with paint. This was like a diamond heist. I'm inclined to think that they won't be scrapping this stuff- but bid a job.. utilize all the materials and make hella profit.. Fittings and wire are commodity items.. once they are installed- they would never be likely to be traced back.. once you open a roll of 12-2 without a store label on it-- it looks like every other roll of 12-2 by the same maker anywhere in the U.S.

I'm just still blown away that someone went to all this trouble and risk to dishonestly enrich themselves.. Makes me want to puke!

They might be scumbags but you have to admire, on some level, their way of going about it. These guys sound like pros.

**street_sweeper** · 07-22-2014, 03:00 PM

I posted this story a tear or so ago and the long arm of the law came through thanks to DNA testing of Gatorade jugs !

Man convicted of stealing 4.3 miles of copper wire from Sound Transit

Posted by John de Leon

A Seattle man faces more than 16 years in prison after he was convicted of stealing 4.3 miles of copper wiring from the Sound Transit light-rail system in what is believed to be the biggest metal-theft case in state history.

A King County jury last week convicted Donald Turpin, 55, of second-degree burglary; first-degree theft with a metal-theft aggravator; first-degree trafficking in stolen property; and leading an organized crime operation. Turpin faces a sentence range of 12 ½ to 16 ½ years in prison, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Man convicted of stealing 4.3 miles of copper wire from Sound Transit | The Today File | Seattle Times

**ilovejunk** · 07-23-2014, 12:51 AM

Originally Posted by MattyNoNeck

They might be scumbags but you have to admire, on some level, their way of going about it. These guys sound like pros.

too me that is the absolute worst part of these types of stories, these guys are obviously fit, strong, and outstanding problem solvers; but they use that god given talent to pull off this level of theft, rather than using that capability to go to work, build a business, or otherwise help contribute to a terrible neighborhood or community they themselves are likely a part of.

i am 26 years old and i am appalled almost daily at the people my age who use mental or physical skills i would love to have; to steal S*** from walmart!!! it just boggles my mind.

perfect example** a local "buy here-pay here" dealer i haul cars for from time to time once repo'd a non-payers car and had it locked up on his lot, two guys cut a hole in the fence, and pushed the car by themselves 3/4 a mile up the road to load it on a friends trailer.
i don't know what they stashed in it to make it worth all that effort, but i just struggle to understand how you could put THAT much effort into that risky stupid situation, but wont go out and at least make an effort to work on a productive job or project.

**fortunately tweedle dee and dumb failed to notice the lot and the road in front of it had cameras everywhere, so it took the cops all of two days to find them and the truck and trailer they used and lock em up.

**Mechanic688** · 10-23-2015, 02:58 PM

I just heard that the 2 counties just north of me are having a rash of burglaries from cell phone towers lately. Seems they have moved to stealing something of more value than tin.

According to police reports, thieves have hit at least a dozen cell phone, radio and TV towers in the past two months in St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties.

Thefts from local cell phone towers could prevent you from calling 911 | Local - WSBT.com

**sledge** · 10-23-2015, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

I just heard that the 2 counties just north of me are having a rash of burglaries from cell phone towers lately. Seems they have moved to stealing something of more value than tin.

Thefts from local cell phone towers could prevent you from calling 911 | Local - WSBT.com

Well that is NOT COOL!

**MrNiceSky** · 05-04-2016, 03:03 PM

The copper thieves could have used the skill to nab a diamond store instead of lowes!!!

Holy Crap.. My Local Lowe's was hit! Copper Theft!

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