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October 16, 2008

Cops look for copper thieves

By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

The Jacksonville Police Department is looking for the culprits who stole from a local church twice in one week.

The First Pentecostal Church of God in Christ notified JPD on Friday that two of their three large air conditioning units had been stolen, and Tuesday afternoon officers were again called to the scene to investigate parts stolen from the third unit.

“On Friday, it was observed that two 5-ton air conditioning units had been stolen from the property, and that the third 5-ton unit had been disconnected and moved from its original location on the concrete slab,” Detective Tonya Sonntag said. “The copper and electrical lines between the two stolen units and the building had been cut with a sharp instrument, allowing the units to be removed. The air conditioning units were awaiting completion of a new church building so they could be hooked up.”

According to Sonntag, when officers returned to the church building on Tuesday they found the remaining unit to have been stripped of its copper wiring and several other internal components.

First Pentecostal COGIC is located at 1509 Jeff Davis St.

“Two had been completely removed from the property last week, and they came back this week to pull some more off of the third unit and do more damage. The total value of the three units is estimated at $4,000,” she said.

Sonntag said the investigation has revealed no suspects at this time, but she believes a vehicle “at least the size of a pickup truck” was used to transport the two 5-ton machines. She also said it was probable that more than one person is responsible for the crimes.

“If caught, the culprits in this are looking at theft and criminal mischief charges, and it is a possibility that charges in the case could be enhanced due to the location of the crime being a place of worship and due to the fact that copper was taken,” Sonntag said. “It’s just terrible that someone would target a church like this.”

This is the second such case in the area in the past month. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department recovered two of four air conditioning units stolen in September from Rocky Springs Baptist Church. Three Rusk men were arrested and charged with theft of property between $20,000 and $100,000.



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