Shingles prove to be gold mine for thieves
By ANDRE COE, Associated Press Writer
DALLAS – Workers at Bradco Supply Corp. arrived one morning to find someone severed the heavy chain locks on the security fence at the Fort Worth shingle supply warehouse. Inside, empty wooden pallets were splintered and scattered across the floor. They'd been robbed. Again. Thieves have targeted Bradco Supply locations so much in recent months that company officials decided to add a unique splash of paint to the shingles' packaging to help police track down the stolen roofing material.
Crooks nationwide have been stealing millions of dollars worth of shingles from companies this year, a sizable increase from years past. Previously, thieves would steal them from construction sites, but not on this level. They're now getting ambitious, robbing warehouses — sometimes several semi-truckloads at a time — and hauling away hundreds of thousands of dollars in shingles. In Texas alone, at least $4 million worth have been stolen this year.
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Investigators believe some thieves are part of an organized operation, stockpiling the materials in anticipation of hurricanes, tornadoes and other roof-ripping storms that would heighten the demand for their stolen wares. Other thefts may be isolated incidents from people looking to sell the shingles to roofers for a quick buck. Also, the soaring price of shingles, which are petroleum-based products, has driven the demand for cheaper, black-market roofing material. The thefts are forcing roofing companies to spend thousands of dollars on security cameras, lighting and closed-circuit television equipment.
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Besides Atlanta, thieves have hit ABC Supply's locations in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Connecticut, Maryland and Texas, Schuch said. Shingle thieves have also robbed several warehouses owned by Avenel, N.J.-based Bradco Supply. The Fort Worth theft in May left the warehouse ransacked and missing 10 semitrailer loads of shingles — worth a total of $120,000 and enough to cover approximately 65 homes of about 3,200 square feet each. In August, thieves hit Bradco's facility in Tulsa, Okla., and hauled away another $100,000 worth of shingles.
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The tough economy has helped fuel the thefts because stolen shingles are cheaper. A roofer who buys his shingles from a reputable supplier would charge between $12,000 and $14,000 to roof a 3,200-square-foot home, said Schuch, the ABC Supply security chief. A thief may charge $7,500 for the same job. "A homeowner's gotta be thinking, 'You're kidding me. That's too good to pass up,'" he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_bi_ge/us_shingle_thefts