Copper thefts rise in New Castle

Four people were arrested recently in the thefts of copper and other metals.

By LAURE CIOFFI

VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — City police are investigating a rash of copper thefts over the past several days.

Police Chief Tom Sansone said he does not believe that the thefts are related. Since Thursday, police have investigated six thefts of copper and other metals from both homes and businesses.

Copper prices have steadily risen over the past few years and harvesting it has become a cottage industry throughout the region.

Last July, there was another rash of copper theft in New Castle and everything from heavy industry to small businesses in homes were hit.

At that time, copper was being bought by area scrap dealers for $2.20 to $2.50 per pound. It’s now going for $2.76 to $2.96 per pound depending on the grade of copper.

This past week, city police were called to three homes and three businesses that were missing copper pipes and other metals.

Arrests made

Police on Friday arrested Eugene Puz, 46, of New Castle and David Micco, 31, of Bessemer at Ferrotech Co. on South Jefferson Street when they were found with more than $2,000 worth of metal from New Castle Industrial Railroad on Moravia Street.

Police said the company president identified the metal as the men pulled in to sell it for scrap.

Two other people were arrested Thursday as they also came to Ferrotech to sell more than $3,000 worth of scrap metal taken from Graziani Construction on Frew Mill Road.

William Payne Jr., 24, and Candie Brown, 32, both of Blaine Street, New Castle, are each charged with receiving stolen property. Puz and Micco face the same charges.

Police have not made any arrests in three other burglaries involving copper pipes.

Copper robberies

All of the copper piping was removed from a home at 119 N. Ray St. Relatives of the deceased resident found the pipes missing Saturday when they went to check the house. They told police no one had been in the house for two weeks and it’s unclear when the pipes were taken.

The owner of two other vacant houses at 5231⁄2 and 525 Lyndall St., both boarded up, found about 200 feet of copper piping missing along with some kitchen cabinets and a countertop when checking the houses Friday.

Police said four 30- to 40-foot copper ground leads used for welding were taken sometime from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday from Kasgro Rail Corp. on Furnace Street.

Neighbors were able to foil a copper theft at 1227 Randolph St. on Sunday evening when they heard loud noises coming from the house. When police arrived at 10:23 p.m., they saw a man running away wearing a backpack and a ball cap. Police found all of the copper pipes stacked neatly in the basement.

cioffi@vindy.com