TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — More businesses share recent experiences with copper theft in the community.
- Two business owners are dealing with two AC units being dismantled, with copper stolen, from two separate workplaces.
- The Salvation Army recently flagged this concern after copper theft left them unable to distribute free food to the community.
- Watch the video to hear from business owners about their concerns.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Take a look at copper that's been stolen from this unit at the back of this local business. It's just down the road from the Salvation Army who has recently been dealing with the same issue.
"This unit was just gutted," said Kimberley Matthews. She's a business owner in Northwest Tallahassee.
Matthews said her AC unit at the back of her building was destroyed about three weeks ago.
"I'm going to have to get it replaced, the whole unit," said Matthews. "I've gotten a couple of bids, anywhere between $12,000-$17,000."
Matthews said they're trying to renovate this building so a business can move into rent the space, however, this damage is going to set them back a month.
"I've been in business for 35 years and, you know, this is pretty much the first time I've had to deal with vandalism like this," said Matthews.
Sadly, this is not the first time you're hearing this story. ABC 27 just reported on the impact of a similar copper theft to The Salvation Army, impacting their ability to distribute free food to the community.
Now, we're learning of even more cases of those copper thefts.
"They'd locked the house up, went to lunch, was gone maybe a couple of hours, and when we came back, the A.C. and the copper were gone," said Travis Sparkman with T-Spark Enterprises.
How much does something like that hold you guys back?
"Significantly because obviously we need the air conditioner when we're renovating a house to keep the house conditioned so that the material and everything will actually go in properly," said Sparkman, explaining a similar issue during a renovation job.
So is this a trend? Not exactly.
The Tallahassee Police Department said the agency has not noticed an uptick in copper thefts.
For those businesses that have been hit, they are taking steps to keep this from happening again.
"What we'll probably do is fence the area in once we do get the new unit in and try to ensure that our other building stays protected with surveillance," said Mathews. "Maybe some lights, floodlights that come on when people are coming around the back of the building."
Both of these businesses said they're now relying on surveillance cameras to ensure safety in their respective areas. This is something TPD also recommends.
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