In my little corner of heaven we get meth heads tying grappling chains to their trucks in order to yank down live power lines to sell for the copper.
I have no idea how none of them have died yet, as frequently as this seems to occur.
chasd00 · 1m ago
wait until it becomes widely known how much copper is in one of those EV super chargers. Although witnessing a bug zapper effect may deter some thieves.
badpun · 6m ago
Alcoholics in Poland steal live train and tram traction. Once in a while, they die.
stavros · 12m ago
How do you know they haven't?
daoboy · 2m ago
Fair enough. I supposed it would be in the local headlines, but I frequently tune out from the news for long stretches of time.
krunck · 54m ago
In my trips to Bulgaria in the early 2000's I saw rampant metal theft. It got so bad that sidewalks had open 8 foot holes to utility spaces because someone tool the access doors. The problem has improved a lot over the years.
Also: I try to always separate any metals from our household trash stream that would not be accepted by the municipal recycling program. I store it up in a box and put it on the curb when it's full.(usually just aluminum, iron, and steel.) It disappears within 12 hours every time. I wish more people would do the same.
fooker · 33m ago
Prime third world country behavior.
(And yes, I’m from a third world country lol)
sharpy · 25m ago
Once upon a time, a colleague from South Africa told me that they use fiber cable everywhere. I was surprised by this that they seem to be more advanced than us. Turns out that copper wire gets stolen, so they have no choice...
vorpalhex · 15m ago
There's an old network admin adage that if you ever need a backhoe to show up, all you need to do is bury some fiber optic cable.
Soon enough a backhoe will magically appear to sever your buried fiber.
This trick works great if you ever get lost. They say a master network admin always carries 6ft of fiber optic just for this reason.
acct-detrius-09 · 25m ago
My wife said in South Africa, growing up in the 1980s, everything metal was harvested like old growth forest. I guess people are as destitute everywhere now.
tragiclos · 51m ago
Doesn't sound very profitable:
>Over the last two years, the state transportation agency has spent more than $62,000 on repairs related to guardrail theft in the region.
If the full cost of replacement is ~$31k/yr, the scrap value of the stolen guardrails is surely far less. Seems like there wouldn't be enough for even a single thief to make a living.
petsfed · 31m ago
Cost to repair correctly is almost always a lot higher than the fence value of the material, but more importantly, repair cost is always higher than the labor/tool cost to steal the material. Dunno how long it takes to cut off a 12 foot section of guard rail, but the fence value of that rail only has to be more than $15/hr over the time it takes to find and remove the rail to make it profitable.
Its the same thing with catalytic converters. The crackhead stealing a catalytic converter from a 2011 prius is interested in the $150-$350 of platinum in the catalytic converter, not the $2200+labor replacement cost of the thing. Considering that its ~20 minutes looking, and ~2 minutes sawing to steal the thing, we should all be so lucky as to make $150-$350 for less than 30 minutes' work.
ndileas · 31m ago
People willing and able to do this probably have a few things going on at a time. Plus they're not necessarily at the high end of living expenses. A couple grand haul for a couple hours work is pretty good.
kjkjadksj · 19m ago
Your cost of living is pretty low if you live in a nylon tent
D-Coder · 25m ago
Well, they're freelancers, so they probably have another half-dozen things going on.
mannykannot · 18m ago
I'm surprised the guardrails are aluminum rather than galvanized steel.
kjkjadksj · 1h ago
So much theft going on for metals. Many streetlights get robbed for their copper wire. The new 6th street bridge in LA gets routinely stripped of wires. Most of the older bridges have been robbed of their old brass lamps already. Many brass plaques in parks or on infrastructure has been stolen.
What is interesting is that this has been ramping up just in the last couple of years. Some of the brass has been out in public for decades but is only now getting stolen hand over fist. I wonder what the impetus has been these days that wasn’t there in the past?
staplung · 50m ago
Presumably multi-causal (economic desperation, rising metal costs, perception that the crime won't be punished, getting the idea from others, etc.) but at least one component is probably the rise of high-powered, battery-operated tools. Battery tools are so much better today than they were even 10 years ago. In the picture from the article you can see the guy using a battery-powered reciprocating saw. Not long ago, an approach like that wouldn't have been feasible.
toomuchtodo · 44m ago
To your point, you can get a Stihl Cutquik TSA 230 Cordless Cut-Off Saw for ~$500-600, and this will make quick work of anything getting in the way of scraping. I've cut through thick steel with it like its butter (and the only portable way to go faster is something like a plasma torch, depending on material and thickness).
While that is a great saw. Metal thieves are likely using harbor freight angle grinders and sawzalls costing well under $200.
toomuchtodo · 47s ago
That's fair. When you can, gotta treat yo' self. Nice tools are the finer things in life, I find.
kjkjadksj · 21m ago
Maybe that needs a sawzall. But getting into a utility box only took hand tools. Only recently after thefts have gotten so bad have they been welding these boxes shut. When they stole all the historic lights off the Hyperion Bridge in LA, it looks like they were merely unbolted:
> I wonder what the impetus has been these days that wasn’t there in the past?
Fentanyl and cheap battery powered tools
kjkjadksj · 26m ago
Not a lot of fentanyl use in CA, it's mostly meth use. Dremels and Sawzalls are nothing new.
dv_dt · 37m ago
Im wondering of regulatory enforcement on the metals dealers has gone down. The last time Southern California had problems like this they added required identification and thumbprints for any seller at the dealers. Presumably there have been workarounds since that allow stolen metals to be moved
unethical_ban · 8m ago
Social media hyping it? Stupid kids get an idea? I'm speculating.
christhecaribou · 1h ago
Is brass more expensive than it used to be?
sparrish · 44m ago
Yes. Copper (major component of brass) is seeing all-time highs at around $4.60 lb.
DougN7 · 34m ago
I had assumed it was much higher. How many pounds of copper could be in the wiring of a street lamp? 5 pounds?
helge9210 · 34m ago
Don't try to catch thieves. Go for the scrapyards/recycling companies buying the metal.
convolvatron · 1m ago
I work with a lot of scrap and scrappers. they did this at the local scrapyard, and indeed they stopped accepting anything from anyone without a city-issued business license.
now the tweakers sell directly to scrappers with a business license, that take a 25-50% cut.
Symbiote · 26m ago
That's how it works in the UK, following too many thefts of copper cables for railways which are at least one, maybe two orders of magnitude more expensive to repair than highway barriers.
You must show identification when selling scrap metal, and the scrapyard must record that for a period.
AmVess · 30m ago
That's all there is to it. All these scum know they are buying stolen items, but they do it anyway. Same thing for catalytic converters and copper stolen from just about anywhere.
Drop long prison sentences and massive fines on these people, and this problem would vanish in short order.
squigz · 15m ago
You honestly believe a scrapyard owner should go to jail for buying metal that might be stolen?
Fines, sure. But "long prison sentences"?
> this problem would vanish in short order.
Anyway that's worked well for drug abuse/sales, so it should probably work here too
unethical_ban · 9m ago
Once pharmacies and drug manufacturers in the American legal system started getting held liable for excessive opioid prescriptions and pushing, it became less common. So yeah. It might work.
I have no idea how none of them have died yet, as frequently as this seems to occur.
Also: I try to always separate any metals from our household trash stream that would not be accepted by the municipal recycling program. I store it up in a box and put it on the curb when it's full.(usually just aluminum, iron, and steel.) It disappears within 12 hours every time. I wish more people would do the same.
(And yes, I’m from a third world country lol)
Soon enough a backhoe will magically appear to sever your buried fiber.
This trick works great if you ever get lost. They say a master network admin always carries 6ft of fiber optic just for this reason.
>Over the last two years, the state transportation agency has spent more than $62,000 on repairs related to guardrail theft in the region.
If the full cost of replacement is ~$31k/yr, the scrap value of the stolen guardrails is surely far less. Seems like there wouldn't be enough for even a single thief to make a living.
Its the same thing with catalytic converters. The crackhead stealing a catalytic converter from a 2011 prius is interested in the $150-$350 of platinum in the catalytic converter, not the $2200+labor replacement cost of the thing. Considering that its ~20 minutes looking, and ~2 minutes sawing to steal the thing, we should all be so lucky as to make $150-$350 for less than 30 minutes' work.
What is interesting is that this has been ramping up just in the last couple of years. Some of the brass has been out in public for decades but is only now getting stolen hand over fist. I wonder what the impetus has been these days that wasn’t there in the past?
https://www.stihlusa.com/products/cut-off-machines/battery-c...
(no affiliation, I just like the tool)
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-05/historic...
Fentanyl and cheap battery powered tools
now the tweakers sell directly to scrappers with a business license, that take a 25-50% cut.
You must show identification when selling scrap metal, and the scrapyard must record that for a period.
Drop long prison sentences and massive fines on these people, and this problem would vanish in short order.
Fines, sure. But "long prison sentences"?
> this problem would vanish in short order.
Anyway that's worked well for drug abuse/sales, so it should probably work here too
Same with pawn shops.