Most times, authorities discover the work of copper thieves after the damage is done.
On Tuesday, law-abiding citizens scored a victory when officers caught two alleged thieves in the act, according to West Hazleton's police chief.
Brian Buglio said two men stole copper pipe from a borough home Monday, leaving an 87-year-old man without water. When they allegedly returned to finish the job Tuesday, officers arrived and arrested them.
Police took one of the men into custody, along with a second man who was waiting in a pickup truck parked nearby. Police also placed the bag of copper pipe into the cruiser, the pipes clanging as they were placed in the back seat.
Buglio said copper theft is very common, especially from empty buildings, and in most cases is fueled by a drug addiction. He said it is rare that thieves are caught in the act, but Tuesday's case is a good example of how the average citizen can fight back by watching their surroundings and notifying police.
A neighbor who believed the thieves would return Tuesday to strip the rest of the building of copper pipe was watching, and called police when they showed up, Buglio said.
Police received the report and were dispatched around 11:50 a.m. to 117-119 E. Green St. for a reported break-in, and said they found a man running out of the vacant house and a large bag filled with copper pipe in the basement.
He was taken into custody and arraigned before District Judge James Dixon on charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest and possession of an instrument of crime. The man was released on $30,000 unsecured bail. Police said the man is 26 years old but did not identify him.
Police also apprehended a second man who was waiting in a pickup truck parked nearby. Police placed the bag of pipes into the back seat of the cruiser.
Around noon, the man who was found in the pickup truck was given a field sobriety test. An officer showed the man how to walk a straight line but he lost balance and nearly fell over, requiring another officer to brace him from falling. After failing that test, the man was given a breath test, then handcuffed and placed into the back of a police cruiser.
Buglio said officers initially were called to the house Monday, when a copper theft was reported. Pipes were removed from half the vacant duplex, which has a common basement.
Though no one was living in the house, pipes inside feed water to the rear of the property where Ralph Daniels lives, Buglio said.
Daniels leaned on a cane in the yard as he watched the men being taken into custody Tuesday.
He said he noticed that his home had no water around 1 p.m. Monday and, thinking there was a water main break, called the Hazleton City Authority, which reported no problems. Later, he noticed one of the front doors to 117-119 E. Green St. was open and that copper pipes were missing from the basement of one side of the home. He called police.
Daniels is unsure of how he will get water restored to his home, and said he is taking showers at his two daughters' homes.
Hazleton police and state police at Hazleton assisted West Hazleton police.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
