[StBernard] Copper looters tarnish St. Bernard recovery

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Mon Oct 1 22:10:06 EDT 2007


Copper looters tarnish St. Bernard recovery
But recent busts put dent in theft problem
Monday, October 01, 2007
By Paul Rioux
St. Bernard bureau
Just two days after Matthew Edwards had a pair of air-conditioning units
installed at his storm-damaged Chalmette house, thieves stole the copper
cooling coils and ripped new copper pipes from the freshly Sheetrocked
walls.


"I was fuming," Edwards said of last month's burglary at his house on
Dauterive Drive. "I was just about to move in, but this has pushed me back
more than a month and cost me thousands of dollars."

It's the kind of setback endured by all too many residents rebuilding homes
in St. Bernard Parish, which has been plagued by a rash of copper thefts
since Hurricane Katrina.

But Edwards said his frustration is tempered by the satisfaction of knowing
the Sheriff's Office made arrests in his case.

Deputies used serial numbers on the two coils to trace them to a St. Bernard
salvage yard, where records indicated a woman who lives on the same block as
Edwards had sold them along with a third coil for $148. Trudy Fossier, 50,
and three alleged accomplices were arrested in connection with eight copper
theft cases in Chalmette.

Authorities said the bust, along with a series of other recent arrests, is
putting a dent in the copper theft epidemic in St. Bernard, where large
tracts of vacant homes threatened to turn the parish into a looter's
paradise in the weeks and months after Katrina.

The Sheriff's Office has arrested about 20 suspects linked to more than 100
copper theft cases so far this year, Maj. John Doran said.

"With more people moving back to the parish, we have a lot more eyes and
ears to pick up on suspicious activity," he said. "The public is aware of
the problem and is doing its part to help us catch some of these thieves in
the act."

Doran also credited a new state law that requires salvage yards to
photograph the scrap metal it buys and keep a digital scan of the sellers'
driver's licenses.

He said authorities have received good cooperation from the parish's lone
salvage yard, W.B. Scrap Metal on Paris Road in Chalmette.

Owner Nick Barlow said he tries to send the message that he doesn't "cater
to criminals."

"They know I'm going to scan their driver's license and take pictures, so
they go someplace else that might pay them 20 cents less per pound but won't
ask for any identification," he said.

Barlow said he pays up to $2.60 a pound for copper, down from a post-Katrina
peak of about $3.

Responding to complaints from residents, St. Bernard Parish Councilmen Mark
Madary and Craig Taffaro said they are exploring options to require even
more documentation for local scrap-metal transactions, such as requiring
sellers to specify where they got the metal.

"Anybody who is selling copper legitimately ought to be able to say, 'I got
it from this address,' " Taffaro said. "I don't think that's too much to
ask."

Sheriff's Office Capt. Robert McNab linked copper thefts to a growing
problem with illegal drugs in St. Bernard, where about 75 percent of arrests
are drug-related.

"We've had drug addicts go to the yard two or three times a day," McNab
said. "They ride up on bikes with the copper in the baskets and leave with
$15 to $20 a pop."

McNab said copper thieves usually get pennies on the dollar when compared
with repair costs, which typically run several thousand dollars.

Many homes in the parish are built on slabs with pipes embedded in the
concrete. Because thieves often cut pipes flush with the slab, plumbers have
to chisel away some of the concrete to make repairs, adding substantially to
repair costs, McNab said.

Edwards said his homeowner's insurance will pay to repair and replace his
air-conditioning units and copper pipes. But it won't pay for the gate he is
building around his yard or the chain-link fence around the air-conditioning
units.

"They say stealing copper is a crime of opportunity, so I'm trying to make
my place look less inviting," he said.

. . . . . . .

Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3321.






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