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Duke Energy vehicle, thousands of feet of copper reported stolen

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer Updated 4:43 PM Tuesday, January 31, 2012

MONROE — A Duke Energy work truck and thousands of feet of copper were stolen early Tuesday morning.

Police are reporting that between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday possibly multiple people broke into the Duke Energy substation at 593 Todhunter Road and stole a white work truck and 20 rolls of various size copper, which is equivalent to 7,600 feet.

According to the police report, two employees reported the gates were locked when they arrived at work this morning and said none of the fence line was cut.

The thieves stole a white 2007 Ford F-550, valued at $60,000, bearing registration PFS4652, which the employees said was in the parking lot the previous night.

According to the police report, the garage door to a storage room and a wall of the building was damaged during by a forklift during the reported theft. The total damage estimate is $3,500.

Monroe police Lt. Frank Robinson said investigators did not receive on Tuesday the surveillance video from Duke. Robinson said he’s uncertain the value of the copper.

Duke Energy spokeswoman Sally Thelen said they don’t have a value estimate for the copper yet.

“Duke Energy takes copper theft very seriously,” she said. “We are working with local law enforcement on this incident.”

Neil Cohen, owner of Hamilton Scrap Processors, said based on the description of what was stolen the copper could be valued between $1.75 to $2 a pound. However, a total value on the copper cannot be determined without knowing the weight, which is unknown.

Monroe Police Chief Greg Homer said he was arresting people for copper thefts in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was a detective, so it’s not a new trend.

“But it’s just getting worse because of the price of metal going up so high,” he said. “The economy’s bad and more people out of work, and you put that all together and you’ve got the perfect storm.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at twitter.com/mdpitman.

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