The soaring price of copper has triggered a rash of copper thefts in the United States, authorities, art dealers and utility companies say.

Copper prices have jumped from about 83 cents per pound to between $3 and $4 a pound since 2000, prompting thieves to make off with everything from sculptures to spools of electric wire to gravestone plaques, The Washington Post reported.

In Moberly, Mo., a scrap dealer Dave Fusselman called the police after thieves tried to sell him large patch of copper caps, which turned out to have been stolen from a munitions factory. One of the accused now could receive a sentence of 245 years, as the crime is categorized as a theft of munitions during wartime, the Post reported.

Others have risked their lives by attempting to steal electric wiring while it was in use.

Individuals are willing to risk their life for whatever they can sell at a scrap yard, DTE Energy security chief Michael Lynch said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International


Publication date: 12 May 2008   

Source: UPI-1-20080512-15370600-bc-us-coppertheft.xml

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