# Disgusted!! Rant



## johnpma (Oct 8, 2014)

I get to work (own a machine shop) and find out that on Monday night somebody cut all the copper lines off the roof top of my building and purged 1000 gallons of LP that we use to heat the facility into the air. Luckily nobody that works for me was harmed as this could have been a deadly explosion if the gas had dropped through a roof vent. Cops said it's prolly a drug addict looking for quick cash for heroin.


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## stayfitz (Oct 8, 2014)

That's terrible! Glad no one was hurt


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## Ashful (Oct 8, 2014)

Awful... we used to take a hand for theft.  Maybe not a bad idea?

Camera systems are cheap these days.  A few hundred $ goes a long way.  Sad, but it's where we are.


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## johnpma (Oct 8, 2014)

Joful said:


> Camera systems are cheap these days. A few hundred $ goes a long way. Sad, but it's where we are.


That's what we are having to look at. But my gut feel is that here in Mass even if caught it would be a slap on the hand. And for the cops..........they really want nothing to do with any of it


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## Warm_in_NH (Oct 8, 2014)

Crazy. What part of Mass?


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## burnham (Oct 8, 2014)

Warm_in_NH said:


> Crazy. What part of Mass?



 Curious as well. I work for an light department, we had a junkie break in and take copper a few different times.  He got caught.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 8, 2014)

Joful said:


> Awful... we used to take a hand for theft.  Maybe not a bad idea?
> 
> Camera systems are cheap these days.  A few hundred $ goes a long way.  Sad, but it's where we are.



Uh . . . we did? I mean I've heard of thieves having their hands cut off in some Middle Eastern countries, but not the U.S.


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## mrjohneel (Oct 8, 2014)

The criticism of Massachusetts law enforcement/judicial system not caring if someone destroys property and steals is nonsense.


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## bobdog2o02 (Oct 8, 2014)

Black or galvwnized iron doesn't have much salvage value.....


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## Ashful (Oct 9, 2014)

firefighterjake said:


> Uh . . . we did? I mean I've heard of thieves having their hands cut off in some Middle Eastern countries, but not the U.S.


Correct... I was referring to our mostly-collective European heritage.  However, just now spending a few minutes on Google, I'm finding it may have been less common than I thought!  There were several more creative punishments for theft, in middle-aged Europe.


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## johnpma (Oct 9, 2014)

This is WMass.  Seen this whole judicial thing here in Mass first hand. Somehow (not by my vote) Mass considers drug addiction "mental illness" and we now have state funded programs to help rehabilitate these addicts and get them back on their feet.

I look at it this way. Cop can sit at bridge construction making his/her wage or he can patrol drug sections of the city where addicts think nothing of killing and make the same wage. Pretty sure I know what the choice is......

Just a little Peee'd off with the response of the investigating officer. Really like to know how "you have insurance" plays into "to protect and serve"


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## Beer Belly (Oct 9, 2014)

I'm surprised with all that gas being released, nobody reported a strong gas odor, and possibly catch the person in the act......I know it would draw my attention


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## johnpma (Oct 9, 2014)

Guys came into work a 6am and smelled it. That's the part that fries me Junkies need money for drugs is one thing!! Shut the friggin valve off at the tank. Senseless


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## 7acres (Oct 9, 2014)

Man, that stinks. Sorry you went through this. I hope somehow you are made whole. Mental illness... .


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## Retired Guy (Oct 10, 2014)

I recall a front page photo of what was left of a guy that was trying to steal wire that was servicing the pantograph of an electric commuter train. Most of him was still on the wire but his leg was on the ground.


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## Warm_in_NH (Oct 10, 2014)

Saw my cousin (were not close) in FL on yahoo news for stealing copper from a sub station and knocking power out to like 15000 homes and some major intersections. 
I wasn't surprised. .....


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## Ashful (Oct 10, 2014)

Retired Guy said:


> I recall a front page photo of what was left of a guy that was trying to steal wire that was servicing the pantograph of an electric commuter train. Most of him was still on the wire but his leg was on the ground.


Some problems solve themselves.


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## Doug MacIVER (Oct 11, 2014)

what pain in the. luck was with your crew. Brockton has similar problem. Wednesday someone stole the doors off a mausoleum and other brass decorations. about as low as it gets. sad to say that alot of junk yards won't even bat a lick at taking it. sorry to hear of your hit. takes a lot of effort to make up for the $$$$ lost.


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## gzecc (Oct 11, 2014)

My son had his brand new A/C compressor stolen from his back yard soon after it was installed. We had to buy a metal cage and surround it. These low lives are getting desperate.


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## Lake Girl (Oct 18, 2014)

johnpma, sorry to hear of the damage but glad none of your guys were hurt.  Even out in the middle of nowhere, we've had our share of losses of tools & job boxes from the locals that are addicted.  One of them finally got jailed due to assault on his Gram - lousy deal as she's a great lady.

Had to laugh when they stole the job box, emptied out the tools and left them leaning on the garage door - couple hundred for the job box and a few thousand for the drilling equipment!  

There is a degree of mental illness associated with addictions but it does not take away the requirement for restitution and responsibility for their actions.


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## Jags (Oct 20, 2014)

chickenman said:


> No one will steal it if has no value because no one will buy it.



The very reason that scrap yards won't accept manhole covers.


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## Fsappo (Oct 20, 2014)

I am in the process of getting cameras at my home.  You never need them until after someone steals from you.  That issue with the propane is terrible.  Code out this way is that a 1000 gallon propane tank needs to be 25' from any "important" structure.  I guess this goes to show how that can save lives.  That stuff shoots up, then falls and settles in all the spots most likely to create a spark


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## mellow (Oct 21, 2014)

Ask the cop to pay the deductible.  We had a couple hundred gallons of heating oil taken from our free standing tank a few years back, with the high deductible you might as well eat it.

Have a camera on the tank now but even if we caught the loser if we don't get him before he leaves and sells the stuff we are still out of pocket, can't get anything from someone who has nothing.


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## johnpma (Oct 22, 2014)

Fsappo said:


> I am in the process of getting cameras at my home. You never need them until after someone steals from you. That issue with the propane is terrible. Code out this way is that a 1000 gallon propane tank needs to be 25' from any "important" structure. I guess this goes to show how that can save lives. That stuff shoots up, then falls and settles in all the spots most likely to create a spark


 Yes we too have the tank quite a bit  away from the building however all the cutting was  was done on the roof top where they could not be seen


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## brian89gp (Oct 22, 2014)

mellow said:


> Have a camera on the tank now but even if we caught the loser if we don't get him before he leaves and sells the stuff we are still out of pocket, can't get anything from someone who has nothing.



So true.  The penalties if caught are so minimal in a lot of places that it is hardly a deterrent either, usually most effective to make sure your property is more of a hassle to steal from then your neighbors is.  I would pay extra if there was some method to use aluminum for wiring and AC/gas purposes but even then the bastards would still do a lot of damage trying to steal it before realizing its not copper.

On a side note, when a house I was working on got broken into and stripped they left any/all wiring that was in EMT conduit and most of the Greenfield (FMC) that was run through walls.  Too much of a hassle to get out I guess.


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## Ashful (Oct 22, 2014)

brian89gp said:


> I would pay extra if there was some method to use aluminum for wiring and AC/gas purposes but even then the bastards would still do a lot of damage trying to steal it before realizing its not copper.


My exterior electrical feeds to house and barn are aluminum.  My exterior gas lines are corrugated stainless.  I think copper mains and exterior gas lines are probably pretty rare to find in a residential application.


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## brian89gp (Oct 23, 2014)

Joful said:


> My exterior electrical feeds to house and barn are aluminum.  My exterior gas lines are corrugated stainless.  I think copper mains and exterior gas lines are probably pretty rare to find in a residential application.



Aluminum mains yes, but not interior wiring.  Copper wiring in walls is standard and thieves will knock drywall off entire walls to get at it.  Or cut the water line coming out of the basement wall flooding the entire thing (required to be copper here).  AC refrigerant lines I think are always copper and the condenser coils have copper piping in them.  I wish all of it could be aluminum or something else aside from copper to reduce the scrap value of it to "not worth it" levels.


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## Ashful (Oct 23, 2014)

Hah... if someone actually gets inside my house, I hope they find something more valuable than water pipe and wiring to steal!


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## smokedragon (Nov 1, 2014)

We had several churches robbed of their AC units last summer for the same exact reason, people wanted to make a few bucks at the scrap yard.

Hopefully karma catches up with the dirtbags.  Glad you and yours are OK.  I would be fightin mad too.


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## Fsappo (Nov 5, 2014)

Joful said:


> Hah... if someone actually gets inside my house, I hope they find something more valuable than water pipe and wiring to steal!



Until I because a father I dreamed of being home when someone broke in.


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## Ashful (Nov 5, 2014)

Fsappo said:


> Until I because a father I dreamed of being home when someone broke in.


Ditto, on that.  However, the newspaper article following any event at this house will definitely use the word, "arsenal".


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## begreen (Nov 5, 2014)

Not necessarily so. A few weeks after we moved into our first house that we (or the bank) owned we went to a company Christmas party. When we came back the house was ransacked. This was in spite of an elderly, but imposing 125lb dog there. The material items they took all could be replaced and insurance covered them. But the small family mementos and personal collections could not. I lost my grandfather's engagement ring and my wife lost a collection of rings and stones from world travels. That is what hurt the most. The next day I installed a full house alarm system, ADT stickers from work and deadbolt locks. We were never hassled again.


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## Ashful (Nov 5, 2014)

Ouch, sorry to hear that.  Opinions vary on the alarm warning stickers, tho, begreen.  We have a monitored full house security system, but ended up pulling all of the stickers out of the windows, after reading some opinions on their utility.


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## begreen (Nov 5, 2014)

We left Seattle after incidents in our neighborhood increased including daylight robbery. It's much quieter in the country, for now...


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## Fsappo (Nov 6, 2014)

Joful said:


> Ditto, on that.  However, the newspaper article following any event at this house will definitely use the word, "arsenal".



I only own 3 firearms.  I would only use one for home defense,  the other two put food on the table.  I practice drills with my 5 year old. He sleeps in the same room as I do.  He knows that if dad wakes him up and points to the closet furthest from the door, he quietly goes there, lays face down and covers his ears.  he has heard a 12 ga enough times squirrel hunting where he should be ok.  He also knows if I wake him up and point to the window, he is going for a 5' drop and going to throw rocks at the neighbors window.  We practice once in a while, although the 5' drop we go thru much slower than in a real life situation where I may just grab him him Peyton Manning style and launch him thru the window.

I really hope it never comes to that.  I get caught daydreaming about blasting thru my bedroom door, but taking the life, even the life of a scumbag may unnerve me after the deed is done/


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## Fsappo (Nov 6, 2014)

begreen said:


> We left Seattle after incidents in our neighborhood increased including daylight robbery. It's much quieter in the country, for now...



The exact reason I left Long Island.  I had this group of kids from some Salvadorian street gang...M13 or something, break into my car behind my job.  At lunch time!  In a pretty busy parking lot.  These guys were all about 5' tall and 100lbs.  I figured I would just shout them away.  So I gave em the ole "Hey, if you don't want your arse beat, step away from the car!' treatment.  Normally works on kids.  Not these guys.  They stared at me like they would just gut me for my disrespect.  No fear at all.  I backed away slowly, waved and walked back into work.  Didn't even call the cops.  So, I knew Patchogue wasn't the place for me.  Tried to see where I could afford to live on LI before I started a family.   Landed in Central NY.


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## Hills Hoard (Nov 6, 2014)

That sucks!!   Someone died here just last week attempting to score some copper.   They fell through the roof though = dead.


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## firefighterjake (Nov 7, 2014)

Hills Hoard said:


> That sucks!!   Someone died here just last week attempting to score some copper.   They fell through the roof though = dead.



Instant karma?


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## johnpma (Nov 7, 2014)

As this whole thing was eating away at me I decided to contact my local state Rep. well instantly I got a reply with arrangement for me to meet with himself, the mayor, and the police chief. This thing is way out of control. Before somebody decides to pull a trigger I think it's best as a business owner to bring this to the officials of the town.


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## Hills Hoard (Nov 11, 2014)

firefighterjake said:


> Instant karma?




Seems that way.  Hopefully the 2 guys he was with (1 being his brother) think twice before they try and take whats not theirs


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## webbie (Nov 14, 2014)

I hate the feeling of being robbed....or even vandalism. It's not as much the material stuff, but the feeling of being violated and the senselessness of it.

I've been robbed twice that I can think of - both times by people I knew well. Of course, I've been robbed many more times by employees and vendors!


Sadly, it's a part of mankind that's not going to go away. On the positive end, most crime is actually down...


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## Knots (Nov 15, 2014)

I grew up in Bridgeport, CT.  Near the 25 connector there is an orthodox church with "onion domes" that were copper clad.  Someone got up there and peeled all of that cladding off.  That's a lot of work.  If you're willing to work that hard, why not get a job?  The church replaced the missing copper with plastic that looks like copper patina.  Almost...

As I was leaving there a couple of years ago, someone had yanked all of the brass plaques off the WWII monuments, they were pulling aluminum gutters off houses, they were breaking into OCCUPIED HOMES (when the people were out) and pulling the copper out of the walls, and battery powered sawzalls were being used to cut all of the catalytic converters off vehicles at the train station.  Outside AC units were prime targets too.

A firearm might be useful if you happen to be home, but if they know you have them, they'll just watch for when you aren't and scoop them up.

Maine isn't perfect, but it's a far cry from the savagery of B'port.


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## johnpma (Nov 18, 2014)

Well an update. They got the guy here in town a mile up the road from the shop. He also had my license plates on his unregistered and uninsured vehicle. Had possession of all kinds of drugs, and stolen merchandise. I received a call from the DA's office to appear in court on 11/24.

Let wait and see how this goes down........


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## firefighterjake (Nov 18, 2014)

johnpma said:


> Well an update. They got the guy here in town a mile up the road from the shop. He also had my license plates on his unregistered and uninsured vehicle. Had possession of all kinds of drugs, and stolen merchandise. I received a call from the DA's office to appear in court on 11/24.
> 
> Let wait and see how this goes down........



Unregistered and uninsured vehicle? Lots of drugs and other stolen stuff? Shocking!  Would never believe that such a guy would have stolen all that stuff . . . probably society's fault, right? 

Good luck with court.


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## Fsappo (Nov 18, 2014)

That is great news.  We will house, feed and insure him for 5-10 years, pay his public defender and shortly after he is out, he will do it again.  I like the story of the guy falling thru the roof better.  At least you can have a part in getting one scumbag out of circulation for a while.


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## Knots (Nov 19, 2014)

Fsappo said:


> That is great news.  We will house, feed and insure him for 5-10 years, pay his public defender and shortly after he is out, he will do it again.  I like the story of the guy falling thru the roof better.  At least you can have a part in getting one scumbag out of circulation for a while.



Maybe he can get married to a young woman while he's in the pokey too like Charlie Manson...


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## Lake Girl (Nov 19, 2014)

johnpma said:


> .... He also had my license plates on his unregistered and uninsured vehicle. .......



Had you realized the plates were gone?  Could have been worse ... vehicle involved in a hit and run and they got the plate no. and got lead back to you.

Glad they got the guy and good luck in court.


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## bubbasdad (Nov 21, 2014)

I think we ought to have a lot stronger laws on the scrapyards.  I went to the local yard a couple years ago, helping a neighbor scrap out some old farm equipment, so she could pay the propane bill.  We went on the scale, off the scale, a big crane with a claw thingy grabbed all the stuff off, dumped it in a pile, and another claw thingy picked from that pile, feeding a shredder.  Anything coming in gets shredded within minutes.  Weighed out, gave my neighbor a check, we were out of there in 5 minutes.  Scrap metal is almost like getting a atm card.  I think they ought to delay payment a week or so, require a mailing address.  a couple

We had a couple of idiots here that tried to tear up a rail on a active track.  They were doing it in where the track ran thru a cornfield, the engineer saw them, stopped the train, called the police by cell.  Idiots didn't seem to notice the train...  The police caught them before they could make any headway.  The railroad had their own lawyer at the arraignment.

This was about 10 years ago, a coworker of mine, who lives in Detroit, came home from church with his wife and daughter, to find 2 bums taking the aluminum siding off his house, stuffing it into a shopping cart.  The cops arrested the vagrants, but he had his house resided in vinyl.  Btw, my friend is black, the bums were white, if that matters to anyone.


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