Washington County Sheriff Rick Silver told BartlesvilleLIVE on Wednesday that during the last five or six weeks, five businesses have lost their AC units. He said whoever is taking the units is either taking the whole units or cutting the condensers out of the units.
"The reason they are doing it is because inside that condenser is copper and they can take that copper and take it to a salvage yard or someplace that takes copper for trade and they are getting $3.50 a pound roughly," said Silver, adding that AC units typically contain about 20 pounds of copper.
He said it appears the perpetrators can take the units in the space of 10 or 15 minutes.
Silver said a few months ago, Tulsa County was plagued with such thefts. Since then the thefts have moved on to surrounding counties, more recently to Rogers County and now in southern Washington County. Four units have disappeared in Ochelata and one was stolen south of Bartlesville from Silver Lake Baptist Church.
He said the Sheriff's Office was made aware of the theft last weekend.
Churches tend to be the targets of choice for the thefts and winter, the season to steal the units.
A deputy investigating an AC unit disappearance found two other businesses that had been hit and the people did not even know it, according to Silver.
"Because if you are not using your air conditioner, you don't even know it's not there until you go to turn it on in the spring."
Silver said citizens need to be mindful of the recent rash of AC unit thefts.
"One, we want people to check now to see if their units are still there and two, if they are still there, keep an eye on them," he said, saying people should check on their units every day. He said installing motion lights or cameras may help to dissuade would-be thieves.
"It's one of those deals where a deputy is going to have to be in the right place at the right time or a citizen is going to have to see something suspicious," said Silver.
Undersheriff Steve Johnson said citizens need to call law enforcement if they notice anybody working on an AC unit.
"If you see a truck working around an air-conditioning unit around this time of year, that's probably pretty suspicious. Give us a call," said Johnson. "It is worth us coming to come and talk to that guy for a while to make sure he is legit."
Silver said Texas, for a while, was plagued with AC unit thefts. State legislators there passed a law to curtail the epidemic. The law required salvage yards and entities purchasing copper to keep records on the identities of those selling copper, thereby making easier any tracking efforts being done by local authorities. Oklahoma has a similar law that also requires sellers to show a photo I.D.
Silver said he did not now if the recent rash of thefts in Washington County is somehow linked to the thefts that occurred in Tulsa and other counties.
"I would not be surprised if it is the same people, I don't know," said Silver. "Churches were the primary focus in Tulsa, I know that."
"Hopefully, we are going to get some leads or someone is going to see something and actually catch them in the act."
Those seeing suspicious activity are asked to call the Bartlesville Area Crime Stoppers at 918-336-2583.
