Thieves target Richmond area churches for copper downspouts

By JOE MACENKA
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: February 22, 2008

When it comes to copper thieves, apparently no place is sacred.

Thieves posing as construction workers tore off several copper downspouts this week from the sides of Berryman United Methodist Church in South Richmond.

It became the latest in a growing list of Richmond-area churches to be targeted by thieves looking to cash in on the increasingly lucrative market for recycled copper.

While recycled aluminum sells for about 60 cents per pound, copper can fetch four or five times that amount, and those kinds of prices have prompted many a thief to steal new copper pipes or wiring from construction sites.

But with copper prices continuing to rise, thieves are finding new ways to get their hands on the metal, including stealing downspouts. Until recently, such thefts in Richmond and its immediate suburbs had been confined largely to homes.

No more.

In Henrico County’s Lakeside area, for example, there have been so many thefts of copper downspouts from churches in recent weeks that police are devoting extra officers to the cases and setting up stakeouts.

“It’s really quite a problem in Henrico, and we’re concentrating a lot of resources on it,“ Henrico police Lt. Doug Perry said yesterday.

Why steal from churches? Unlike homes, which may be occupied the majority of the time, churches often go long stretches without anyone around to keep an eye out for criminals. Also, churches tend to be higher than houses, so there are longer—and therefore more lucrative—lengths of downspouts available to steal.

In Lakeside, Overbrook Presbyterian Church has been hit by copper thieves at least four times since the start of the year.

Just down the street, Hatcher Memorial Baptist Church was hit twice last week.

“The first time was apparently a trial run, because they only took one,“ said the Rev. Jay Butcher, Hatcher Memorial’s associate pastor.

“Actually, they took a second one, too, but once they got it down and discovered it was aluminum, they left it behind.“

Lakeside Presbyterian Church has been hit four times in three weeks, losing an estimated $8,000 to $10,000 worth of copper downspouts, said Ed Jacobsen, property chairman.

After the second theft, Jacobsen and another church official decided to set up their own stakeout, but they gave up at 2 a.m. and left.

“I said, ‘Let’s go home. Nothing’s going to happen,‘“ Jacobsen recalled. “Well, it happened.“

The church has set up surveillance cameras as part of its latest attempt to catch the thieves.

“It is very disheartening,“ Jacobsen said. “Whether you’re a wealthy church or not, it’s still a slap against the church.“

In addition to churches, copper thefts from homes have been reported this week in several Richmond neighborhoods, including the Museum District, Carytown and other North Side areas.

Chesterfield and Hanover counties have had problems with copper thefts in recent months, although mostly at housing construction sites and not with great frequency, law-enforcement officials in those localities said.

Police have received various reports of possible suspects and suspect vehicles in the recent thefts, but no concrete descriptions have been released.

Hatcher Memorial has decided to fight the problem by no longer putting up new copper downspouts after each theft.

“We’re going with aluminum now,“ Butcher said. “I suppose there may be some churches who need to go with the copper for architectural reasons, but not here. It’s not that important to us.“

Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or .