HOUSTON – It is a $1 billion per year industry in the U.S., and Texas ranks No. 2 in the nation when it comes to stolen metal.
The Houston area is a particular hotbed of metal thievery, which may explain why both the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff's Office devote investigators to finding serial metal crooks.
Most recently, an unidentified thief targeted the air conditioning units of Cooper Industries, a multibillion dollar corporation that focuses on industrial electrical applications. The units were valued at approximately $25,000 a piece.
Surveillance video shows the same crook twice scaling a ladder to dismantle the units on Sept. 3 and Sept. 10.
In He throws the parts he wants off the roof and into the bed of a truck, detectives said.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office has requested anyone with information about the crime to contact Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.