New crime trend focuses on recyclable material

You’ve heard of white collar and blue collar crime.

The next wave of criminal activity might just be labeled green crime. As in crime dealing with recycling.

More and more, law enforcement officials are reporting that thieves are making off with junked cars, automobile batteries, and copper, turning in the items at recycling centers for easy cash.

Gary Ward, of Rocky Mount Recyclers, said the price of copper, lead, and other metals started rising significantly about three years ago, and continued until about a year ago, where prices have remained.

Lt. Bruce Temple, of the Halifax County Sheriffs Office, said once some people looking for a quick buck realized this, reports of stolen recyclable material took a sharp jump in the county.

‘This has been part of an ongoing crime trend for the past two years,” he said. “We get reports in here on average weekly, it’s that bad.”

Among those accused of participating in such crimes is Littleton resident Jasper Wayne Faulcon, 49, who was charged recently with felony breaking and enter and felony larceny after about $5,000 of recyclable material and a riding mower were stolen from a home on Highway 561 in Halifax.

That is exactly the type of reports Temple said his office is getting regularly. And, he said, it’s a time consuming job trying to keep track of all the cases.

“It’s not like bank robbery where we’ve only got a few people doing that, it’s so widespread, everyone has access to something that’s recyclable,” he said. “That’s what’s different from this crime and so many others. Not everybody’s selling dope, but we have a lot of people who have access to taking from their neighbors.”

A number of people in the area have reported air conditioners stolen, or outside air conditioning units disassembled with the interior copper components taken. Others have reported inoperable cars vanishing.

“If you can cash in a whole car and get $100, some of these people aren’t opposed to stealing an old car. If you steal three cars in a day and turn them in, you’ve made a few hundred dollars,” Temple said.

He said the condition of the vehicle really doesn’t matter much.

“If it still runs, but it has a couple of flat tires, see they don’t care about that. They care about the availability  Right now, as you and I speak, we have people out riding around the county looking for things to steal. And it doesn’t have to be breaking into your house. They’re looking for cars, anything that’s metal,” he said.

“How many times have you driven out by some farm and see and old truck or vehicle sitting in a field, rusted, maybe the farmer has left it there for sentimental reasons. Well, now that metal has some value, (and) these criminals are taking those.”

Ted Kincaid, of Powell’s Garage auto salvage yard in Roanoke Rapids, said his business doesn’t purchase auto parts.

“The only thing we purchase are whole vehicles with a clear title,” he said, so his business doesn’t have to worry about buying stolen goods.

He did say they have to worry about becoming a victim.

“We have had people out on the yard, breaking in at night, trying to steal parts from us to sell to other salvage yards,” he said.

Powell said the worst example he’s seen did not happen at work, but on some private property of his.

“I own a house on Highway 48,” he said. “About six months ago, I had a whole central AC unit stolen. I replaced it, they (repair crews) started working on it on a Thursday. On a Monday evening they came in and gave me the bill for it, said the work was done.”

The next day, he said someone called him. “You know that unit you had put in? It’s not out here,” the friend told him. “They (thieves) came out during the day, dismantled it, and stole the coil out of it.”

Another prime target for such thieves are construction sites.

In Littleton, several thousand dollars worth of copper tubing was stolen from the Window Fashion Resources Inc. site during the evening last autumn, while construction crews were off the site.

Perhaps the most daring such theft occurred last year at the vacant former Wal Mart store in Roanoke Rapids.

Lt. Temple said thieves made off with $75,000 worth of copper tubing they stole during the day.

“People who saw them in there, working on it, thought they were construction workers with a legitimate reason for being there,” he said.

Often times, whether the material has been taken from a private residence or a construction site, Temple said those stealing the goods will melt the metal, which makes it nearly impossible to identify.

The problem as become so bad that construction companies working on large sites have had to start fencing in their work areas to prevent after-hours access, hire off-hour security, or both.

At smaller sites workers are having to spend more time each day not only locking up tools, but also locking up metals and other material that might be subject to being stolen for recycling purposes.

“It’s becoming an expense, not just a nuisance,” Temple said.  “We recommend alarm systems for construction sites you know are going to be there for three or four months at a time, it’s worth the expense and more and more people are doing that.”

Although the problem is not likely to go away, he said area residents can help bring some of those perpetrating the crimes to justice.

“If you see anything, if you know anything about people doing this, call us,” he said.

Some calls can qualify for cash awards through the sheriff’s office Crimestoppers program. He said people calling Crimestoppers, at 583-4444, can do so anonymously, and there is a plan in place that allows for those people to receive cash for their tips -– up to $1,000 depending on the severity of the crime.

“We make no inquiry as to who your are, in fact we don’t want to know who you are,” he said. “If people can give us information that leads to an arrest, not to a conviction, just an arrest, we can make arrangements to get cash payments to them without them every having to come in contact with an officer.”

And that could make green crime profitable for those who turn in the thieves.