Businesses at the Rockbridge Crossing shopping center in DeKalb are the latest victims of a wave of copper thefts sweeping metro Atlanta.
Tenants at the shopping center in the 4800 block of Rockbridge Road said thieves hit rooftop air-conditioning units Wednesday night or early Thursday, leaving at least eight retailers, including a kennel, hot and angry.
"Everybody is confused and mad, including me," Atlanta Pet Care Center owner Tigist Lulefegd told AJC.com Friday. "Everybody is trying to get their air-conditioning unit fixed."
Tenants say the shopping center is managed by Ingles grocery chain, which has an anchor store at the location. They are hoping Ingles will help them recoup some of the thousands of dollars it will cost to replace the units.
Lulefegd said she has purchased three air-conditioners from Sam's Club to keep dogs in her care cool until new units are installed. She said replacing her three destroyed units will cost $10,000 to $12,0oo.
Ingles spokesman Ron Freeman said the company will try to work with tenants to get the units replaced, but it is primarily their responsibility.
"Copper thefts have risen dramatically recently as a result of the poor economy and of rising prices for commodities like copper," Freeman said in a statement. "We are committed to working with the tenants and their insurance carriers (who would cover tenant expenses in this case) to get their air conditioning operational as quickly as possible and to possibly provide financial assistance."
Metro Atlanta authorities say thieves are having a field day stealing copper from air-conditioning units, especially from vacant and foreclosed properties and churches. Thieves typically strip the units for copper and other valuable metals. But they can also sell them whole to unscrupulous dealers who will then resell them.
Last month, Acworth police found six air-conditioning units in a maroon van they stopped, leading to the arrest of three suspects.
Lulefegd, who has operated at the Rockbridge Crossing shopping center for 15 years, said DeKalb County police were out at the shopping center Friday investigating.
"My first priority is to take care of the pets," Lulefgd said. She's currently caring for about 10 dogs and so far the heat has not affected them.
Eddie Powell, owner of Square Brothers barbershop, said the thermometer in his shop had hit 92 degrees by 1 p.m. Friday, and the sweltering conditions were driving off customers.
"Usually on Friday each chair will be full and right now we have no customers," Powell told the AJC. "It's not easy to shave sweaty heads."
Powell said several customers had come in for haircuts and left due to the heat.
"We got to the shop and the AC was out, and we figured it probably just went out, then we found out everybody else was without AC, too," Powell said.
Powell said Ingles, told tenants they would have to get the repairs done because their leases specified that they were responsible for "maintenance." Ingles was not affected by the outage, said a person who answered the phone there.
At Supreme Fish Delight, Sung Lee said his thermometer registered 93 at 1 p.m. and said he wouldn't be surprised if it hit 100 later Friday. "It's very hot," he said. He said business was off but could not offer an estimate of how much.
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