Copper theft forces business to close

THEODORE, Ala. (WALA) - Robbins Collision Parts on Boykin Road was forced to shut down Monday morning.

"The lady that works here came in this morning and said we had no power," William Robbins said.

William, the owner's son, began looking around for the problem. He soon realized someone had damaged their property; he believes it was sometime between Saturday and Monday morning.

"They had cut cut the fence, laid it down and they had cut the wires before it even comes to the building the three phase 400 volt or something wires, while they were hot," said Robbins.

The more Robbins investigated, the more damage he found. Power boxes were destroyed, an A/C unit was demolished, and 150-feet of copper were wiring missing.

"We're out of power for at least a week," said Robbins.

And, as in most copper theft cases, the victim is out of tens of thousands of dollars. The person reselling the copper reaps a few hundred bucks.

"It cost us around $2,000, just for the cable that was stolen — that was eight years ago," said Robbins. "We're in the process right now of possibly renting a generator and an air compressor to run the shop."

Robbins, also had to send six workers home. Asked about when they would be called back, Robbins said maybe Friday. The Robbins have repaired their shop before, they know what to expect.

"It was a pretty good process of just waiting for permits and inspections," he said.

Robbins has a hunch: someone may have seen the thieves who committed this crime.

"You can see where they cut a trail down through the woods ... and the conduit was all scattered all the way down through, all the way out to the interstate," said Robbins.

He thinks the thieves picked up their loot in a vehicle, 75-yards away on I-10.

Robbins feels like there is little recourse if a suspect is caught because they may have sold the stolen copper by that time.