MPD: two arrested for car battery thefts

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Mobile police said two suspects removed batteries from vehicles at a Government Street. business transported the batteries from the scene in a shopping cart.

 Police said the Alabama metal theft law that went into effect last year has decreased scrap metal crime, but some haven’t received the message.

 “We got a call about some men who were breaking into cars,” said Mobile Police Corporal Chris Levy.

MPD said the suspects removed the batteries from vehicles at Eddie's Automotive.

LaDrilliace Fuller and Lafonza Perdue were arrested when police spotted them pushing the shopping cart with four car batteries in it south on Seminole Street. Tuesday, Jan. 29. They were charged with four counts of breaking and entering a vehicle.

Police said the two suspects were likely planning to scrap the batteries.

Our first question was: how much money would they get?

“We pay 25-cents a pound. Most batteries average about 40 pounds, so about 10 bucks,” said Michael Lynch, of Battery Sales & Service.   

Lynch said batteries are mostly made of lead and are 100-percent recyclable. 

He said the new Alabama law slows down transactions and the amount of business, but it's a good thing.

“It's slowed down some,” said Lynch.

“It has been tremendously helpful, in not only catching guys but really in the whole prevention of it,” said Cpl, Levy.

Both suspects remain in Metro Jail on Wednesday.

Under the Alabama metal theft law, recyclers now enter a customer’s driver’s license and vehicle description into a state database.