My personal favorite is still this one...

Quote:

Fla. police flush out suspects who stole toilet parts from parks, restaurants http://www.policeone.com/bizarre/art...s-restaurants/

It's not just the economy; scrap metal prices (especially copper) are really high right now, due to international demand.

Duh, haven't y'all heard about the two stupid craicheads in Delco who were caught trying to take down copper transmission wire...

from a live electric pole?

Needless to say, zap. They managed to survive. Apparently they're not to good at figuring out how electricity tries to find a path to the ground and managed to complete a circuit while they were trying to steal the copper to salvage for their meth habits.

Sad. Too bad they didn't die. That would have been one power outage I wouldn't have minded.

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Buh-bye.

You think this is low, i just read a memo at my firehouse about thieves stealing the brass nuts off the top of fire hydrants. Apparently a house in california burned to the ground when the fire department arrived to find the hydrant was inoperable.

Or why that Ship next to Ikea is doomed.

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Um...this stuff has been going on for years. I think its funny its finally making the news.

Someone did catch on fire and die while trying to steal copper
at the Reading Viaduct at Pearl & Wood several weeks ago.

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Seems simple enough to hold the scrap dealers accountable for stolen property. Impose a fine 10 times the cost of replacing a cover and they might think twice about accepting them. The dealers could also return them to the city. Every piece of scrap gets sorted and something as big as a manhole cover would not pass unnoticed.

I've heard of some in Chester that haven't. Crackheads stripping pipes and wires out of abandoned houses and, uh-oh, Peco never took out the box.

Funny thing is, even after the fire department calls, it can take Peco 2 hours to get around to shutting off the power. Heard one case where the firefighters and Paramedics had to keep extinguishing the corpse until they got there. Hell of a way to spend your shift.

Absolutely. It's hard to hold them accountable for stolen pipes and wires, but a manhole cover is pretty clearly marked as city property.

My understanding is that thieves have taken to cutting up the covers and grates so that they are not recognizable as city property.

I find it interesting that these thieves will put in so much time and effort to sell this stuff but they won't go out and try to earn a living in a more legitimate manner. they obviously have gumption.

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No matter where you go, there you are. (b.banzai)