Crime Report: Call the Coppers; They Stole My Copper!

Unless their clients want to shell out even more money, home builders can’t secure their work sites 24 hours a day. Criminals know this, and that’s why a combined $15,000 worth of copper pipes were stolen from two University Park construction sites during the weekend of Sept. 6-7. The crimes happened in the 4000 block of Glenwick Lane ($10,000) and the 4000 block of Lovers Lane ($5,000). Here are some tips to stop thieves from stealing your copper pipes.

A few days later, between 7 p.m. on Sept. 9 and 8 a.m. on Sept. 10, thieves stole $920 worth of hardware and materials from a construction site in the 3400 block of Purdue Street.

Of course, unfinished homes present opportunities for more than just theft. At 1:15 p.m. on Sept. 13, a juvenile was apprehended with less than 2 ounces of marijuana in a vacant house in the 3500 block of Westminster Avenue. Police also confiscated two glass pipes, two glass bongs, and six lighters. That’s a lot of paraphernalia for just one kid; something tells us he has a few buddies who were on a munchies run when the police showed up.

Click through for a roundup of other residential crimes in the Park Cities.

Between 10 p.m. on Sept. 9 and 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 10, a thief stole a gold 2002 Dodge Durango from the 3200 block of Milton Avenue.

Between 6:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 10, a thief stole an Echo gas-powered edger and a 30-foot aluminum ladder from a backyard in the 4500 block of Arcady Avenue. The thief left behind some aluminum, in the form of an empty can of Natural Light.

Between 11:20 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, someone tried to force open a back door in the 2900 block of Amherst Street, causing $400 worth of damage. Nothing was reported stolen.

At 10:50 a.m. on Sept. 13, a resident of the 4500 block of Westway Avenue reported that someone broke a large flower pot on her rear porch the previous night. The victim believes a thief dropped the pot, which held an ornamental tree, while trying to steal it, because she’s had other large flower pots stolen from the same porch.