Carson City trio face felony charges in scrap metal thefts
Submitted by editor on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 10:58am
A trio who allegedly stole scrap copper from a Washoe County construction site and brought it to Carson City to strip and burn it of its insulation, face felony theft charges.
Aaron Clack, Melissa Clack, and Josh Stevens, all from Carson City, were arrested Thursday in the Deer Run Road area after black smoke was reported coming from inside a brick structure. The case is being handled by the Department of Alternative Sentencing. Aaron Clack also faces an additional drug charge, authorities said.
Officers chased the suspects along the ridge line before being caught, authorities said. Found at the scene were rolls of copper wiring that had been reportedly stolen the night before from an NV Energy construction site. Also found was a gas can, gloves and copper wire cutters.
Copper thieves typically have to burn through a thick bed of insulation to get to the wiring where thieves will then sell to scrap metal buyers, said Detective Daniel Gonzales. Copper is fetching between $2.80 to 2.90 a pound.
Recently there has been an uptick in scrap metal thefts. Before Thursday's theft two men were arrested in January for allegedly cutting up a passive reflector microwave tower located in the mountains east of Sedge Road.
According to the website coppertheft.info, the rising price for scrap metal, especially copper, have made what was once a minor nuisance into a major problem costing over $1 billion/year, citing to the U.S. Dept of Energy.
"Pipes, wires, cables, gutters, flashing are being torn from walls and buildings. Roof-top air units are being stripped of their copper coils. Thieves target copper in vacant buildings or difficult to secure areas, often without power or communication lines," the website reports. Scrap metal thieves target construction sites, vacant buildings and foreclosed properties, communication towers and to steal copper plumbing, wiring, generators and materials.
The best way to combat this type of thieving are for construction sites to install motion detector lighting and surveillance cameras, Gonzales said.
According to Nevada Revised Statute, scrap metal dealers are required, among other things, to take a picture of the driver's license of sellers and keep a log book the provides a description of what they buy from sellers of scrap metal.
Specifically NRS 647.020 reads:
1. Every junk dealer shall keep a book in which must be written in ink at the time of purchase a full and accurate description of each article purchased, together with the full name, residence, driver’s license number, vehicle license number and general description of the person selling the article.
2. In addition to the information required to be included in the book pursuant to subsection 1, a junk dealer must include in writing in ink in the book each time he or she purchases or otherwise receives metallic wire that has been burned in whole or in part to remove insulation:
(a) The name of the person who delivered the metallic wire; and
(b) A description of the written evidence obtained by the junk dealer pursuant to NRS 647.035 identifying the person who delivered the metallic wire.
3. No entry in the book may be erased, mutilated or changed.
4. The book must be open at all times to inspection by the sheriff of the county or any of his or her deputies, any member of the police department in the city or town, and any constable or other county or municipal officer in the county in which the junk dealer does business.
Meanwhile, NRS 647.035 says this:
Burned metallic wire: Information concerning person who delivered wire must be obtained; period during which information must be retained.
1. A junk dealer shall not purchase or otherwise receive metallic wire that has been burned in whole or in part to remove insulation unless, at the time that the metallic wire is purchased or otherwise received, the junk dealer obtains:
(a) Written evidence identifying the person who delivered the metallic wire; and
(b) A statement signed by the person who delivered the metallic wire in which the person attests that the metallic wire was lawfully acquired and burned.
2. A junk dealer shall retain the written evidence and the statement obtained pursuant to subsection 1 for not less than 3 years.
