Is this nation wide?!

[elraido]

Local story. I graduated with the grandson...he was a nice guy but just a major idiot with issues.

VIRGINIA — Retired Eveleth Police Chief James Dale Bozicevich is facing criminal charges of theft and receiving stolen property, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in District Court in Virginia.

Alleged thefts of copper wiring from the United Taconite plant property were involved, officials said.

Eveleth police officers Thursday confirmed Bozicevich is a retired department chief, but no dates of service were available. Bozicevich is slated to be in Virginia District Court at 8 a.m. June 20. The charges stem from an April 24 incident in which Virginia police and fire units responded to a report of heavy smoke at a garage at a residence in the Midway section. An officer identified the home as that of Bozicevich.

According to the criminal complaint:

A fire official concerned about a fire in the garage opened the door to it and officials “noticed a large amount of copper wire and wire insulation,’’ as well as insulation noticed in the driveway and in between the garage and house.

Virginia police detectives were called, and noticed rubber-type cable sections laying around the property, some with horizontal cuts and with insides removed. They contacted United Taconite security, Midwest Patrol, whose officers verified the black rubber cable came from U-Tac property and that it was allegedly the same cable covering that one Midwest Patrol officer had found April 21 near 14th Avenue and Southern Drive. Estimates of the cut section were 360-370 feet long valued at $6,000, and the officer noted that an all-terrain vehicle at the residence and cable being removed from U-Tac property by an ATV had “the exact tire tracks,’’ the complaint said.

A Midwest Patrol officer checking stamped serial numbers “on the outer rubber cable recovered from Bozicevich’s [were] the same numbers on the cable in the pit area of United Taconite where the theft originated,’’ the complaint added.

Detectives talked with employees of a local recycling business and received a printout of 46 transactions involving James Bozicevich receiving money of $5,888.80 between Sept. 10, 2007 and April 21, 2008. Of those, ten transactions between Jan. 28 and April 21 were recorded with James Bozicevich receiving checks in his name for copper totaling $3,611.70, the complaint said.

Bozicevich told detectives he drove his grandson, Brett James Bozicevich, to the recycling center, but didn’t know what was in the back of the truck he drove. “ ‘I drive up there and sit in the truck and I don’t look,’ ” he allegedly told police, but also later said the checks were made out to himself, and he cashed them but didn’t know what they were for, the complaint said.

Maximum penalties on the two counts are: For theft, five years and/or $10,000; and receiving stolen property, five years and/or $10,000

[NorCalCoug]

Copper pennies are only plated- they're like 98% zinc, 2% copper. Trying to melt them down for the copper is absolutely pointless.

[NorCalCoug]

Oh, I was pretty close:

• Composition was pure copper from 1793 to 1837.
• From 1837 to 1857, the cent was made of bronze (95% copper and 5%% tin and zinc).
• From 1857, the cent was 88% copper and 12% nickel, giving the coin a whitish appearance.
• The cent was again bronze (95% copper, and 5% tin and zinc) from 1864 to 1962. (Except that in 1943 only, the coin's composition was changed to zinc-coated steel due to the critical use of copper for the war effort. A limited number of copper pennies were also minted in 1943.)
• In 1962, the cent's minimal tin content was removed, the composition becoming 95% copper and 5% zinc.
• This formula remained until 1982, when the composition became 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper (copper-plated zinc). Cents of both compositions appeared in that year.

Taken from USATODAY.com - A brief history of the penny

[sonza68]

Originally Posted by MOMO

cat converters are good money. Platinum inside.

Really? New universal ones can be bought for as little as $60. I would have thought there were a lot of other things on a car that would be worth more and are easier to steal.

[bensenvill]

Originally Posted by MOMO

cat converters are good money. Platinum inside.

and they started mixing zinc with copper for pennies back in 88 or so.

its not the platinum, its the palladium thats the "gold mine".

I use to have violent arguments with this russian guy who ran a sandwich shop [he fed me through college], over moving all investment over from the stock market to gold [ok he was very right on that one]. I argued that palladium was where the future was going to be. kinda dissapointed, its only doubled in 5 years. Anyways its one of those magical mystery elements thats neccissary in things like catalytic converters and hybrid cars.
24-hour Spot Chart - Palladium



I am very guilty of saving pre '82 pennies... been doing it for years.

[NorCalCoug]

Thefts of copper, brass and other metals hit Inland Empire freeways -- chicagotribune.com

[Goldie]

There has been a number of wires removed from freeway cameras for the copper around here recently. but, the latest was the I-5 interstate bridge between Oregon/Washington had someone cut down a ton of fiber optic lines to DOT cameras, thinking it was copper wire. Ended up costing a huge amount to be replaced, and believe FO is not even be re-useable, let alone sellable as selvage once removed

[RiverRojo]

FYI...Pennies made their switch from copper to zinc in 1984.

[LinkMan]

Originally Posted by Lunar Limelight

Copper wire & pipes being stolen. ... My work, Whole Foods, had their compressor room broken into and everything was stolen. It cost the company about 50K for everything. ...

Is this happening everywhere or just Columbus? Its definitely out of control and something needs to be done!

How about this one Lisa, also in Columbus, stealing the copper refrigeration from a soup kitchen!?

The Columbus Dispatch : Copper theft halts meals for the needy

That was May 30th, and they are just reopening tomorrow.

[Lunar Limelight]

We were talking about that at work! Its crazy. The house totally sucks without A/C.