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In New York, London and Tokyo, the price keeps climbing as the market fluctuates.
In Orangeburg and cities across the country, the effects are being felt. They have been for some time now.
"We got hit five times in one week, then three more times the following week. It was two weeks ago when it started. They're taking the copper!" said an Orangeburg County landlord and property owner, who asked that his name not be used.
"John Doe" said he didn't want to give his name because he didn't want his rental property to be hit again. He's lost eight air conditioners in the last two weeks. Like many, John is getting fed up with the constant thefts.
"I told them (law enforcement) I was going to carry a shotgun around," John said. "It's getting that bad."
For the past five years, the price of copper and other precious metals has risen at a meteoric rate.
According to kitcometals.com, copper sold for less than $1 per pound in March 2003. Earlier this month, copper hit $4.
One result of the quadrupled price is a theft rate that has climbed at an astonishing rate as well.
Just last week, air conditioning units were the target of thieves in the Banashee Circle and Hot Lane neighborhoods in the Orangeburg area and Ladybug Road in the Neeses area.
A Nuggett Drive woman reported that her outdoor Lennox unit as well as interior AC units were stolen from her residence sometime last Wednesday night. The woman said the total value of the units was $3,000.
The weekend police reports included other stolen copper tubing from around the county that was worth an estimated $1,000 in retail value.
In December, an overseer for the old Winn Dixie building on Chestnut Street called police after discovering about $15,000 worth of copper tubing was missing from a large air conditioning unit.
In August, someone went onto the Mid-State Homes property, breaking into 13 mobile homes and stripping copper tubing from the electrical boxes and ceiling. Damages were estimated at $36,000.
To a lesser degree perhaps, but no less frustrating, a woman in the eastern portion of the county came home after work one evening last summer to find the walls to her mobile home ripped clean of paneling. But the paneling wasn't the target. The copper wiring -- all of it -- was gone.
That's exactly what lights John up. The replacement value of the finished copper far exceeds the recycled value.
"They're only getting about $30-$40 for it," he said, referring to an entire air conditioning unit.
Locally, few if any structures have been immune to the copper thefts. Churches, schools, private homes and businesses have all been targeted.
"I just think that when a man or woman stoops to entering a church, that's pretty low," Sheriff Larry Williams said. "Somebody who steals from a church? That's as low as you can go."
Last summer, Orangeburg city officials announced a reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators behind the theft of AC units from local business.
"It's a huge problem nationwide," Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Capt. Mike Adams said. "We have a significant number of these types of incidents" in the city limits.
The theft market, police say, is driven directly by the stock market. The higher precious metal prices go, the higher the number of thefts.
Martin Renew has owned and operated Orangeburg Recycling for the past 13 years. He says he's never seen prices for precious metals so high or the prices climb so fast.
"My understanding is it's because of the volatility of the stock market," Renew said. "I believe the dollar has been weakened so much in the last several months, what happened is the metals have gone up as a result."
Williams said it's Renew and other local recycling business owners with whom police work to slow down the thefts.
"If you take away their options, there won't be any place for them to take it," the sheriff said of the thieves.
Police say most local recycling businesses have security cameras and require ide.jpgication before accepting any quantity of scrap for purchase.
Authorities say it will take a joint effort between the community and police to stop or at least slow the copper tonnage leaving the state.
In Calhoun County last year, a man was apprehended after school officials contacted investigators about a series of break-ins at St. John's School near Cameron.
In February, school officials discovered about $10,000 worth of copper wire missing.
Deputies patrolling the area noticed a vehicle parked near the campus. Inspecting the car, they found various tools that could be used to cut wire. A man who returned to the car later was arrested.
"The best containment we can have is for the community to work with law enforcement," Williams said. "Don't be a target on job sites or at your home. Call us in; ask what we can do. We don't mind. We'll come out and make some recommendations for keeping your property safe."
The Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office can be reached at 803-531-4647. The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety can be contacted at 803-534-2812.
T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5516. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.