By RENEE FOX
Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - The East Market Street Pizza Hut was hit by copper thieves sometime in the early hours Tuesday.
Copper freon lines were cut from five roof-top refrigeration units after the unknown suspect/s apparently tried to remove the units completely.
It is unknown how the thieves got on top of the building.
On Jan. 25, snow tracks revealed that copper thieves used a ladder to gain access to the top of Gander Mountain in Howland, costing an estimated $11,000 in damage when the copper was removed from a heating and cooling unit.
By the time manager Keith Colclough called the police at 4 p.m., there was already a crew there attempting to repair the damage. Colclough told officers the crime must have occurred between 12:30 and 10 a.m., and the units are used to regulate the freezers, refrigerators and air conditioners.
The restaurant is currently open for business. The police report states there was $3,000 in damage, a figure that could not be confirmed with a corporate Pizza Hut office.
Two local scrap yards, Metalico Inc. on Burton Street in Warren and Falls Recycling in Newton Falls, said that the Warren police have not been in touch to review transactions or to caution employees to look for copper cooling lines from the five units.
In Cortland, three businesses on High Street were hit sometime in January. The $45,000 in estimated damage wasn't discovered until Dairy Queen owner Kurt Bush attempted to turn his freezers on, preparing to open for the season. When they didn't come on, he learned the unit was gone. Bush had to delay the opening. He is scheduled to open up on Feb. 14.
H & R Block and Action Therapy also were missing their units.
On Feb. 1, the last part of the state's scrap metal bill took effect, requiring all scrap yards to check each seller of scrap metal against the "Do Not Buy List," photograph the scrapper and the items, and electronically submit data daily from each transaction to a statewide database law enforcement has access to. Those convicted of felony or misdemeanor theft offenses are barred from selling scrap for three to six years. Scrap yards that fail to document and upload daily transactions are at risk of criminal prosecution.
Tribune Chronicle
WARREN - The East Market Street Pizza Hut was hit by copper thieves sometime in the early hours Tuesday.
Copper freon lines were cut from five roof-top refrigeration units after the unknown suspect/s apparently tried to remove the units completely.
It is unknown how the thieves got on top of the building.
On Jan. 25, snow tracks revealed that copper thieves used a ladder to gain access to the top of Gander Mountain in Howland, costing an estimated $11,000 in damage when the copper was removed from a heating and cooling unit.
By the time manager Keith Colclough called the police at 4 p.m., there was already a crew there attempting to repair the damage. Colclough told officers the crime must have occurred between 12:30 and 10 a.m., and the units are used to regulate the freezers, refrigerators and air conditioners.
The restaurant is currently open for business. The police report states there was $3,000 in damage, a figure that could not be confirmed with a corporate Pizza Hut office.
Two local scrap yards, Metalico Inc. on Burton Street in Warren and Falls Recycling in Newton Falls, said that the Warren police have not been in touch to review transactions or to caution employees to look for copper cooling lines from the five units.
In Cortland, three businesses on High Street were hit sometime in January. The $45,000 in estimated damage wasn't discovered until Dairy Queen owner Kurt Bush attempted to turn his freezers on, preparing to open for the season. When they didn't come on, he learned the unit was gone. Bush had to delay the opening. He is scheduled to open up on Feb. 14.
H & R Block and Action Therapy also were missing their units.
On Feb. 1, the last part of the state's scrap metal bill took effect, requiring all scrap yards to check each seller of scrap metal against the "Do Not Buy List," photograph the scrapper and the items, and electronically submit data daily from each transaction to a statewide database law enforcement has access to. Those convicted of felony or misdemeanor theft offenses are barred from selling scrap for three to six years. Scrap yards that fail to document and upload daily transactions are at risk of criminal prosecution.
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