According to Bryant Industries, 1406 Warrington Ave., Danville,prices per pound vary daily and by the type of metal,
butcurrently, aluminum generally is 85 cents per pound or less andcopper is around $3 per pound. Thomason said thieves also are causing a problem in vacant housesand commercial buildings, breaking in and stripping metal
wiringand pipes. That created another problem in a vacant residence on Logan Avenuein Danville where water pipes were stolen, allowing the
watercoming into the building to run continuously until Aqua Illinoiswas notified. Replacing what's stolen or repairing the damage can be veryexpensive, Thomason said, but the entire community can help
fightthe crime by being more aware of the businesses and vacantbuildings around them. Be more aware of who your neighbors are; watch their homes whenthey are gone; and keep an eye on businesses after hours and
vacantbuildings and houses, he said. And don't hesitate to call the police, said Thomason, who addedthat in some cases, residents noticed something suspicious
butdidn't call in because they weren't sure. Get license plates of vehicles if possible, he said, call theinformation in and let police determine what's going on. Thomason said other items with metal content are being taken fromyards as well, such as poles, fencing and grills. Rod Kaag, chief investigator with the Vermilion County Sheriff'sDepartment, said theft for scrap metal has been
increasingthroughout the county. Thieves have hit farmers, taking good andold equipment, he said. The department has had reports of air conditioners being stolen andeven manhole covers, sewer grates, grain wagons, aluminum
gutters,lawn ornaments, aluminum boats and canoes and an iron hog kettle. Investigators always keep a list of items reported stolen, but thispast September, a separate scrap-metal list was started,
Kaag said. "It's nuts," said Kaag, who encourages people to look around theirproperty and lock up metal items that they may not have
secured inthe past. Thomason and Kaag said the local recyclers, Mervis, Coultas andBryant's, cooperate well with law enforcement by trying to
identifystolen items. Police and sometimes residents themselves reportstolen items for the businesses to watch for. State law, Thomason said, requires the businesses to record theidentification of a person turning in more than $100 of
scrapmetal. Some, he said, have a no-tolerance policy and requireidentification regardless of how big or small the dollar
amount ofthe scrap metal. On the preventive side, residents or business owners can make itmore difficult for thieves to steal or strip air-conditioning
unitsby going the same route as the Westville Fire Department anderecting a fence or installing cameras or lighting around
theunits. He also warned that landscaping around the units can create abarrier for a thief to hide behind. "Make them more visible and more difficult to get to," he said. Doggett said the fire department has no intention of removing thefence around its air-conditioning unit, especially now that
suchunits are such a hot commodity. He said the fencing was very, very easy for the firefighters to putup on their own and was inexpensive, too. "It just makes better sense to have it there, becauseair-conditioning units and coils are getting quite expensive," he said.
