Photo by Sefton Ipock

Copper thieves have targeted the flower urns at the graves in Forrest Lawn Cemetery on U.S. 29.

Photo by Sefton Ipock

Thieves are targeting air conditioning units at construction sites because of the copper coils inside of them.

When the Rev. Don Owens learned in the middle of a Bible study that copper thieves had vandalized his church’s air-conditioning unit, he paused to pray that the thefts would end.

A thief ripped open New Hopewell Baptist Church’s cooling unit on March 19, stealing the wire coil inside.

“Of course, we felt abused,” Owens said. “But we realized whoever was doing it had been influenced by the evil of this world. So we prayed and kept on with our study.”

That night he became one of many people praying for a solution to Anderson County’s copper theft problems.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tommy Williams believes numbers of copper thefts are growing out of control. He traces the increase in the thefts to the rise in the price of copper.

“Copper prices shot up about three years ago,” Williams said. “When we started dealing with it (copper theft), it was 80 cents a pound in 2003. But it is selling for almost $3 a pound now. It’s a lucrative business for those who choose to steal.”

New Hopewell Baptist Church needed to pay $5,000 to replace the unit.

“That’s ironic, given that the officer told us the thief couldn’t have got about $150 for the copper,” Owens said.

In the last year, the Sheriff’s Office has responded to 32 incidents of copper theft, said Susann Griffin, spokeswoman for the office. Half of those incidents were grand larceny, theft of more than $1,000.

Cities and towns inside the county have experienced many copper thefts, too, Griffin said.

In recent months in Anderson, thieves have robbed air-conditioning units for coil cores, stolen vases from an area cemetery to retrieve the copper inside and even vandalized a statue dedicated to World War I veterans to look for copper, officials said.

Thieves have gone so far as to steal catalytic converters from cars, Williams said.

Most of the crimes occur at night, when it is dark, but some thieves visit construction sites in the daytime when there is no one around, he said.

Law enforcement officials say drug money is the major motivation behind the thefts.

“Nationally, most police agencies will agree it is a drug issue,” Williams said. “The largest percentage of it is for drug habits. Every (suspect) we’ve talked to is tied to the drug world in some way or another.”

Catching copper thieves is not as simple as it might seem, Williams said.

State law requires anyone bringing copper to a scrap yard to exchange for money to show a driver’s license and give his or her name and address, he said.

“We try to keep an eye on the copper buyers,” Williams said. “Their records are available to law enforcement, and we inspect them weekly. That’s generally the way they are caught.”

But without a suspect, it is tough to investigate copper thefts, he said.

“It’s not as easy as going down to the scrap yard and saying ‘Let me see your books,’ because there might be 150 names,” Williams said. “You look for repeat sellers and sometimes you find legitimate people out there. If you have a suspect, you can try to build a case, check with neighbors, find out what they’re driving and go at it that way.”

The only thing that will effectively deter copper thefts is enacting stiffer penalties for the crime, Williams said.

Currently, copper theft is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine between $200 and $1,000 or 3 years in prison, depending on the amount of previous offenses, he said.

The best advice Williams can give homeowners is to secure any property that would appeal to copper thieves.

Make every effort to secure areas where copper materials are, whenever it is practical, he said.

“Enclose your air conditioning units with fencing,” Williams said. “That won’t stop them, but it will slow them down. Keep vehicles housed in garages.”

Robert Fountain, a McDuffie Street homeowner in Anderson, has taken Williams’ advice.

He put up a chain-link fence around his air-conditioning unit to protect it from copper thieves.

When he purchased the home, he arranged for telephone wires to be installed along the outside of the unit. But thieves came along and stripped the wiring, forcing him to install new, hidden wiring.

At a house just up the street from Fountain’s home, an air-conditioning unit has been destroyed. A few houses over in the other direction, copper thieves have struck again.

With their copper gone, residents along the street are left to pray for help.