ITE switchgear vandalized

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WarrMann

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta, GA
Got called to see if I could figure out why the parking lot lights were out at a shopping center, and found the problem to be no feeders to any of the panels.

The power was off to the building for over a year, that's when they cut the copper. They cut and pulled every wire they could over #6, didn't even bother with the small wire in panels. The landlord had the local poco switch on power! And the poco just did it. Didn't even want to look to see if the main was off inside the building, and they definitely didn't care about having it inspected before, they just turned it on at the transformer and left.
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ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
Unfortunately copper theft is a world wide problem. I just wish I’d been quicker re-closing one of our MV feeders, I could have spoilt some thieving ****** night.

A few years ago a theater company here in Austin rented a space that had been vacant for a few months, only to find that all the copper accessible from the outside of the building had been stolen, including the service conductors from the pole mounted transformer a couple hundred feet away. A nearby convenience store clerk witnessed the broad daylight theft but didn't report it because the thieves had a bucket truck and were wearing vests and hardhats. They looked very "official". They also took the pad mounted HVAC equipment.
 

Tony S

Senior Member
An old trick, look official and you can get away with murder.

One of our fitters watched two guys in overalls hitch up a mobile compressor and drive off with it. It was found abandoned on the M1 with a flat tyre.

A mini digger was found in the local pub car park.

Nothing is safe unless it’s attached to 200 tons of concrete.
 

Adamjamma

Senior Member
An old trick, look official and you can get away with murder.

One of our fitters watched two guys in overalls hitch up a mobile compressor and drive off with it. It was found abandoned on the M1 with a flat tyre.

A mini digger was found in the local pub car park.

Nothing is safe unless it’s attached to 200 tons of concrete.

Guys used to wear orange vests and hardhats to borrow the county mowers years back.. county left them where day ended.. usually pretty full of fuel... so locals would get used to the schedules, handoff the vests and all, and use county gear to mow yards in the evenings, parking the tractors back around 930 at night pretty much out of fuel...

Worked great until local got elected sheriff and decided to clamp down on it... he only lasted one term for some reason...
 
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