Undercover Police Operation Leads To Scrap Metal Yard Owner Arrest

With the jump in theft of copper wiring in across Charlotte, police said they needed to do more to curb the crime and started cracking down scrap metal dealers.

Officers had the first undercover sting last month since the new North Carolina law requiring scrap metal dealers to get detailed identification from sellers went into effect in December 2008.

Capt. Bruce Bellamy said they plan to continue these operation in hopes of curbing a crime they said has become a major problem.

"In the past, it used to be electronics and so forth. But now the target is actually these precious metals," he said.

Especially copper, which is why Bellamy said, "We're taking a different approach not just taking a report and investigating a break-in on the back end, we're also trying to be proactive."

It's that proactivity police attribute to the arrest of David Tran for buying stolen copper wiring from an undercover officer June 25, 2008.

He currently is charged with felony receiving stolen property and the misdemeanor charge of failing to get proper identification from the seller.

Tran was just one of several dealers that CMPD targeted during their sting that was several months long. He runs the scrap metal yard, J and T Recyling on W. 28th Street in North Charlotte.

When Eyewitness News tried to talk to Tran, he said he didn't want to be on camera. Tran claimed he didn't know about the new law but there was a sign posted that said ID required.

According to the new law, all scrap metal dealers are required to get ID from sellers including their name, address and tag number of the vehicle they used to transport the materials. They're also required to document where the scrap metal came from.

CMPD said officers are now going through and verifying those addresses to make sure dealers are in compliance.

Still, police say Tran is just part of the problem and they point to the numbers: from Jan. 1, 2008 through June 30, 2008, CMPD has taken 222 reports of stolen copper wiring.

That large number and the fact that thieves have targeted several Duke Energy substations is why spokesperson Andy Thompson says they jumped at the chance to supply CMPD with scrap copper to use in the undercover operation.

"Certainly it's a cost of service issue for us. And we have seen theft of copper wiring in our system and that cost gets passed onto our customers unfortunately."