Metal Thief Spotted in Woodland Heights
From the Westover Hills Yahoo Group. As always if you spot suspicious activity call the police.
This morning there’s a guy on a bike who is scavenging metal from trash cans in the alleys, and also trespassing onto private property. He was stopped by NAME REMOVED BY EDITOR (Huge Thanks!) in the alley between 33rd and the park. He was carrying galvanized pipe from a stack of construction materials in the yard. NAME REMOVED called the police after talking with the guy. The guy put the pipe back in the yard.
After NAME REMOVED left, NAME REMOVED realized that someone had stolen copper left-over from our roof project sometime between last night and mid-morning. Yesterday NAME REMOVED spotted a blue-green truck (mid-1990s model) whose driver appeared to be scoping things out. NAME REMOVED called the police this morning and reported the theft. NAME REMOVED also called the police after she confronted the guy in our yard this morning, with galvanized pipe in hand.
Keep your eyes open! THANKS AGAIN TO OUR VIGILANT NEIGHBOR!
Could someone report on the legality of scavenging from trashcans and recycling bins?
Some more information, same source, different poster.
As NAME REMOVED stated in an earlier email, I intercepted a putative metal thief and filed a suspicious person/activity report with the City Police this morning. This person was an African American male of medium complexion with curls graying in the front, about 5’7-5’8, wearing jeans and a tee shirt. He had a black mountain bike parked against a telephone pole close to the west of NAME REMOVED yard but was walking in the opposite direction when I intercepted him. Upon being asked, “what are you doing?”, he stated that it was trash day and he was removing trash. I asked who he was and what authority he had to be doing so and he replied in an extremely pleasant manner that he was “Billy Jones”. When I told him that our neighborhood had metal thieves and that the piping he was caring was not trash, he said he would put it back and ran when I picked up my cell phone. Most likely, he was checking out the alley on bike and someone else was waiting at the end of the alley with a truck.
Take home message: Be on the look out on trash pickup days when normal activity provides a good cover-up.
omg, someone took metal out of your TRASHcan!?!? yes, someone PLEASE report on the legality of this immediately! wow.
Uh, Wolf, please re-read the post. The metal was NOT taken from the trash can. It was taken from a yard on trash day, using that time as a convenient cover for illegal activity.
i was referring to: “Could someone report on the legality of scavenging from trashcans and recycling bins?” found it a little silly. also posted after a night of drinking. haha.
Actually, scavenging from trash cans can make you life heck, at least one day a week.
When I was living on West Franklin Street, a fella used to visit my cans every trash day…
No problem there, except he’d empty the cans in the process and strew the trash all over the alley.
Not fun to come home to after a hard day at work.
I agree with the idea that people not be allowed to scavenge in your trash. With the problems of identity theft these days and such. Additionally, often times, it is a form of trespassing. I understand how hard things must be for these people. I understand their side, but I don’t think it’s insensitive to not want someone rifling through your trash.