Thieves target homes being torn down for apartment complex

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thieves are targeting Elizabeth homes that will be torn down to make room for an apartment complex.

Mike Holcomb and Ace McKenzie took Eyewitness News on a tour of the damage.

Thirty-one houses along 7th Street will soon be torn down to make way for a new apartment complex.

But as part of the demolition contract, Holcomb's company gets to salvage what it can beforehand. For weeks, thieves have been beating them to the punch.

“They've just cut all the wire they can and actually pull the wire out of the conduit,” McKenzie said.

They have also taken the air conditioners they were attached to.  The thieves have boldly piled more than a dozen electrical boxes near the road. Crawl spaces have been raided for copper pipes and front doors have been kicked in to get to appliances they quickly render worthless.

“They flipped the refrigerator over to get the copper out of the bottom of it,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb and McKenzie have both been confronted by thieves found inside houses.  Both now carry guns, and they've also put up cameras around the property.

“Just to get their picture and have some evidence to turn into the police department,” Holcomb said.

But even some of those have had parts stolen.

WSOC