Copper thefts sweep region

The price of copper has more than doubled in the last year.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- There wasn't a drop of water when Jamesa Presnar turned on the faucet to fill her coffee pot at Jaye's Beauty Shop on Croton Avenue.
Presnar assumed there was a waterline problem and called her water company for help.
But when the technician came to her business, he found all of Presnar's copper pipes had been removed. Someone had crawled through a small basement window, shut off her water meter and then removed the pipe, she said.
"I never dreamed this would happen to me. I've been here for almost 20 years," she said.
Presnar is among the growing number of businesses and homeowners in Lawrence County who are finding their buildings stripped of copper pipes and wiring.
When it started
New Castle Police Chief Tom Sansone said his department started seeing an increase in copper theft about nine months ago.
"We've been having a rash of it," he said, noting thieves have hit businesses and vacant homes alike.
"It's very hard to find these people unless someone sees them take it," he said.
Driving the theft is the increased prices scrap yards are paying for copper, the chief said.
The value of copper has nearly doubled in the last year, say area scrap dealers.
J & amp;L Metals on Old Butler Road in Shenango Township had four large bins full of copper wire and piping last week.
"We get big loads and small loads. It's nonstop every day," said owner John Holliday.
Last week they were paying between $2.20 to $2.50 per pound depending on the grade of copper, said Lou Suisi, another owner of J & amp;L Metals.
Suisi said just over a year ago they were only paying 60 cents to 80 cents per pound.
Ken Flere, a trader with Youngstown Iron and Metal, said he's also seen a pretty steady flow of copper coming in since the prices increased in the last year. His scrap yard was paying $2.65 a pound for copper last week.
Driving the price up is a high demand from China and southeast Asia, said Ken Gerimia, spokesman for the Copper Development Association in New York City, a trade association for the copper industry.
"Developing countries need it. There's a huge demand when a country is building its infrastructure. Wiring and plumbing are all very basic needs for building," he said.
But that foreign need is apparently coming at a high cost for some local businesses.
Victims
Jack Lingenfelter, plant manager of Remacor in Taylor Township, said workers went to start up equipment in the plant, which had been closed since last August because of a fire, only to find the entire facility has been stripped of its copper wiring.
He said they are going to have to pay somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000 to replace it.
"The plant engineer had gone through June 29 to do a quick visual and it was all there, but when we called the maintenance superintendent back on July 5 it was gone," he said.
Priest Enterprises just off U.S. Route 422 in Slippery Rock Township has been the victim of three copper thefts, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
In the last theft on July 3, four people were arrested.
State police say about $10,000 worth of copper wire was taken and an additional two rolls, valued at $35,000, were damaged.
Police say new homes under construction, as well as vacant homes are being targeted, too.
New Castle police reported one South Side homeowner was overseas only to find his copper piping gone when someone checked on his house.
Presnar says she's taking no chances that the copper thieves will return to her beauty shop. She replaced her stolen copper pipe with plastic.
"I can't afford copper and why should I put it in and risk someone taking it again?" she asked.
cioffi@vindy.com