"Philadelphia police are searching for two suspects in the stabbings of a pair of security guards at a Home Depot Wednesday afternoon. Investigators say the suspects were trying to steal copper wire."
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In my town, scrap copper is being bought (I think) for about $3.75/lb. I guess one person could carry about a hundred pounds, so for less than $400 the goblin risks, like forever, in the Grey Bar Hotel for armed robbery or attempted murder.
At a more enlightened store, the stink-eye would be circling the drain upon encountering a security guard carrying a firearm.
Disregard the last; the event took place in Philadelphia. That city has an "enlightened" view toward deadly weapons.
In my town, there'd be chalk marks on the sidewalk and a medicine man would be waving chicken claws over the remains (of the perp, not the wire).
All That Remains This used to be my grandparents? rural country home. Five generations once laughed and loved and celebrated countless family milestones here. After Grandpa died and Grandma moved in with my folks, my mom and stepdad purchased the house in order to keep it in the family, and were in the process of fixing it up for a renter when thieves broke in late on Aug. 28, 2007, stole copper piping, and let the home fill with gas for the inevitable explosion.
My stepfather, ?Dad? Earl Thelander, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80% of his body in the explosion. Four days later, he lost his life over less than $20 worth of stolen copper.
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A thief who stripped copper tubing from a propane tank is blamed for a gas buildup and house explosion that severely burned an 80-year-old Onawa man, authorities said Wednesday.
Earl Thelander suffered third-degree burns over nearly half his body in Tuesday?s blast. Investigators say the gas buildup was linked to the disappearance of the tubing, which has increasingly been the target of so-called ?urban miners? who hope to cash in on the high price of certain scrap metals.
The thief who hit Thelander?s rural home ?maybe got $15 worth of copper,? Monona County Sheriff Jeff Pratt said. ?They cut the propane line going to the furnace of the house in an attempt to steal the copper.? ===================
If you can find an earlier Canadian reference to "urban mining" - be my guest.
And you might want to look for any occurrances of catalytic-convertor theft in Canada while you're at it. Cutting out the catalytic convertors from cars using battery-operated saws is another example of urban mining in the USA.
"The damage from the theft left an unsafe work environment which could have placed employees of the plant in jeopardy had they not discovered the theft."
The thieves were merely "lucky" that no one was injured/killed. It's not like they cared anymore than the Home Depot thieves. In fact, they were more cowardly since they didn't even bother to face the people they could have killed.
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