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Bethel Baptist Church's air conditioning units damaged
By Chris Green
January 12, 2011
ROCKFORD – For the second time in three years, Bethel Baptist Church's air conditioning units were targeted by thieves, police said, most likely for scrap copper.
Sam Jones, director of the church's Genesis Day Care Center, said two air-conditioning units were taken and two others were damaged early Tuesday outside of the neighboring 34,000-square-foot Family Life Center at Kishwaukee Street and Harrison Avenue.
A Joseph Behr Metals spokeswoman said today that the price of copper currently ranges from $1.90 to 2.10 a pound for quantities under 100 pounds.
Air conditioner theft is not unique to Bethel Baptist Church. Centennial United Methodist Church on South Second Street was victimized twice in 2006. At the time, the price of copper was selling for about $2 a pound. An air conditioner contains about 40 pounds of copper.
Rockford Police Deputy Chief Greg Lindmark said copper theft typically occurs in vacant homes and buildings.
"You see a spike when the price of copper goes up," he said.
In an attempt to make it difficult for thieves to cash in on stolen metals, Lindmark said all salvage yards in Rockford are required to report to LeadsOnline, a database accessed by law enforcement agencies nationwide. The online system is an investigative tool that collects and analyzes transaction records from businesses, such as scrap metal recyclers, who take in property from the public.
"We check what is taken in from the salvage yards on a regular basis," Lindmark said.
Police also said businesses can make the air conditioning units less appealing to thieves by surrounding them with a chain-link fence and installing lighting, or if possible, mount the units on the roof.
Over a two-week period in late April and early May 2008, an estimated $25,000 in damages occurred at Bethel Baptist's Family Life Center when five air-conditioning compressor units were gutted by thieves for copper.
Anyone with information about the latest theft is asked to call the Rockford Police Department at 815-987-5824 or Crime Stoppers at 815-963-7867.