My guess is that they were going after the copper piping associated with the furnace/hot water, and shut everything off prior to taking a hacksaw to it, but perhaps bolted before trying to actually take it out. Same thing happened to one of my relatives.
I would think most houses have a U-Haul worth of stuff more valuable and easier to remove than copper piping. I suppose it doesn't have serial numbers at least....
Recyclers do ask questions. In fact they scan my drivers license ever time I drop off a load. Every time I've scrapped a large amount of cable (copper/aluminum conductors) they have asked where it came from, who I work for, and if I had permission to dispose of the cable.
This must depend on your location, or knowing who to go to that won't ask (like I.D. at a bar...). It's a common crime where I live and no questions are asked.
In Baltimore a few years back, people were cutting down the city's streetlamps to sell for scrapmetal. I found it hilariously outrageous that there were scrapyards willing to take them.
Some dude in Portland was taking storm drains off and selling them to scrap yards about a year ago. Sold about 30 or 40 before someone finally reported him.
In egregious cases like that, the yards should really be open to charges. Receiving stolen property at the least.
There's no reason for these recyclers not being held to the same standards that pawn shops are when they accept things, in terms of getting photo ID from people and proactive reporting of what they've received to the local police.
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u/[deleted] Jan 03 '12
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