Burglars Target Homes, Businesses For Copper

Capt. J Martin Lurz of Precinct 7 urges Cockeysville residents with copper material on the exterior of their houses or office buildings to be vigilant.

“Stealing copper can be pretty big because of the amount of resale value returned from this stuff is up to 80 percent. That’s a good chunk of the original value,” Lurz said.

The general trend surrounding copper burglaries  is “spiky," he said. Sometimes the crimes are virtually nonexistent, but other times, the thefts happen quite regularly.

“We usually believe that it’s one person who gets the idea to steal copper when they find out about the value of it and they go on a rampage,” he said.

Police are currently investigating two recent copper burglaries at separate residences – in the 1200 block of Dulaney Valley Road and the 14000 block of Falls Road. These locations, within miles of one another, both had copper downspouts yanked from the exterior of the house.

There are currently no suspects in these thefts. 

An email alert sent out by Lurz states that burglars have been known to scout out neighborhoods with housing styles that use copper guttering. They will simply walk up to the houses and rip the downspouts off of them.

“You should keep an eye out for people running across  lawns and ask your neighbors to keep an eye out too,” he said.

Lurz encourages residents to contact the police if they see any suspicious activity. “Gutter repair work” being done at a neighbor’s house may in fact be something more.

“Don’t hesitate to call 911,” Lurz writes in his e-mail. “We would rather respond and find out that everything is legitimate than find out later that guttering was being stolen.”

But homeowners are not the only ones at risk.

“Office buildings in Cockeysville have been attacked,” Lurz said. “[Burglars] have actually gotten up on roofs and stolen the copper coils from inside AC units.”

In the past, burglars have used acetylene torches to cut open the air conditioners. Lurz encourages passersby to notify the police if they see sparks coming from rooftops. 

Copper burglars are difficult to apprehend because they often work under the cover of darkness. But Lurz is hopeful that a new law will serve as a deterrent. 

“Maryland now has a law in effect that if you’re scrapping metal you have to show ID at pawn shops and they keep a record of that,” he said.

In the meantime, "awareness is key," Lurz said.