Thieves recycling wood, copper

STRIPPED:
Wood joists and support beams were stolen from a foreclosed house and carport on Howard Street in Anderson. Thieves have also been known to strip copper wires and copper water pipes out of foreclosed residential structures. The used metal was then sold to recyclers.

The sustained housing foreclosure market is one possible cause for an increase in illegal recycling.

While the theft of copper wiring for recycling has been a regular occurrence in abandoned buildings, City of Anderson Building Inspector Steve Ayers last week discovered several wood joists missing from an abandoned car port in the 1800 block of Howard Street.

The wood joists, 20-foot wood beams, were likely sold or used in a construction project, Ayers said. In other parts of the carport, 4X4 posts were replaced with flimsier 2X6 posts.

"It's the first time I've seen that," said Ayers, who has worked as a building inspector in Tehama and Shasta counties for more than six years. "This seems to be the next illegal activity to produce income since the federal government has made the selling of copper much more difficult."

Copper wire theft is much more common, he said, citing six incidents in the last few months in Anderson. Ayers attributed some of the thefts to disgruntled homeowners in foreclosure.

"They just cut out the sheet rock and tear out the wiring," Ayers said.

The problem has led some banks that have repossessed foreclosed properties to stop using For Sale signs to mark vacant buildings that might be a target for thieves, Ayers said.

Aside from copper wiring, Ayers has found plumbing fixtures including toilets and sinks stolen from foreclosed houses and sold on Ebay.com.