(Photo: submitted)
A frustrated rental company owner in downtown Moncton feels more needs to be done to prevent copper theft in the City of Moncton.
Jo-Anne Phillips says their Cameron Street home, which is currently being renovated, was hit twice last week by thieves.
“Last Monday, our home, which is under renovation in downtown mountain got broken into through the night. It was discovered the next morning when we went to clear the snow. Our back door was broken open with a crowbar and the thieves came in and stripped the home of copper. They stripped copper wire and they stripped copper piping from the plumbing. The home was absolutely destroyed,” Phillips says.
She adds it’s pretty scary, and luckily no one was staying there at the time due to the work being done.
“The home is on Cameron Street and it’s situated between two other homes on the block, but neither neighbour saw anything. The perps apparently were on foot and bike so there’s no license plate, no identification,” Phillips adds.
That was just the first incident. Phillips says after reporting it to the police, they came and investigated.
“We called in some friends some tradespeople to secure the home. The door that they had broken into with a crowbar, was screwed closed with three-inch screws and in the rest of the home we put brand-new bolt locks on. But then thieves came back two nights later. They couldn’t get in so they broke the glass. Then, they removed the screws with a screwdriver and went back in to get the electrical that our electrician had put in to provide heat to the home. So they took the brand new wiring that had just been installed,” Phillips added.
Since then, she has called around to various recycling depots in the area, to see if anyone had come in selling large amounts of copper similar to what was stolen.
Anyone accepting metals must be presented with a valid New Brunswick ID and address before purchasing, but Phillips says no one was reporting receiving any large amounts similar to what was taken from her home.
“The Police even told us, even when you have surveillance systems, the individuals are probably wearing a hood or they’ll probably be wearing a facemask. They often don’t have a vehicle to identify a license plate and unless you have a serial number on your copper, it’s really difficult to charge anyone or even prove that’s where it came from. But what a thief may get $300 or $400 for, is going to cost us anywhere from $35-$40,000 to do repairs,” Phillips says.
Phillips adds that this is becoming an epidemic, “We need to find a solution for these people who keep taking from our community.”
